George Bailey believes that David Warner is a ‘natural leader’

Former Australia skipper George Bailey has heaped a ton of praise on stand-in skipper David Warner following Australia’s 2-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the third ODI at Dambulla. Bailey top-scored for the Aussies with the bat as his 72 helped the Aussies clinch a narrow win. David Warner was picked as the skipper ahead of the likes of George Bailey and Aaron Finch when the first-choice skipper Steve Smith was flown back home citing fatigue.

Warner, in his first match in charge, ensured that the Aussies exerted their dominance in the game by securing a win and going up 2-1 in the series. This match at Rangiri in Dambulla proved to be the last match for Sri Lankan stalwart Tillakaratne Dilshan as the 39-year old bid farewell to One-Day international cricket.

Speaking about the impact made by David Warner, Bailey stated that the southpaw was indeed a natural leader. “I think he’s a natural leader,” Bailey said of Warner in the aftermath of the third ODI. “He’s always been a leader in terms of the way he plays the game and a lot of the things we talk about as a team. And Boof (coach Darren Lehmann) has always talked about, driving the game and playing the game aggressively, taking the game on.”

“He keeps things simple and they’re all pretty good things to have as a skipper. I think it suits him.”

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Adding to the praise he had already heaped on Warner, George Bailey went on to add that the ideas coming from Warner are something extraordinary. “I know that the times I’ve captained, I’d much rather have too many ideas coming at me and I can get rid of the ones I don’t need than when no one is coming up at all,” he added.

“I don’t think we’ll come out with anything too radical (under Warner’s leadership), it was more just letting Bull (Warner) talk through what his plans were, and they were pretty much always on the money.”