VIDEO | George Bailey turns his back to Lungi Ngidi on the run-up leaving Faf du Plessis in splits
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George Bailey has that habit of making everyone talk about batting stance from time to time as he comes up with some ridiculous ones every now and then. Today, his hip-facing stance left Faf du Plessis in splits and commentators even speculated the need for a “hamstring pad” for the Aussie.
South Africa's tour of Australia has started on a very poor note as the visitors were shocked by four wickets against a Prime Minister's XI that had on three international players in their ranks. After getting dismissed for just 173, Prime Minister's XI skipper George Bailey and youngster Josh Philippe helped the team to victory inside 37 overs. While that was an upset Bailey provided some comic relief funniest amidst all this.
While facing Lungi Ngidi, Bailey adopted a stance which virtually turned his back to the bowler and it seemed like he running in towards the point area. It was the most unorthodox stance possible in the game of cricket and to Bailey’s credit, he pulled it off really well and there was no impediment in facing the delivery in a normal fashion despite shuffling his position.
After watching that, Faf du Plessis, who was standing at the slips, couldn’t control his laughter and the commentators speculated the need for a “hamstring pad” for the batsman while he’s at the crease. However, Bailey explained that it was not his madness and there was a process involved in the stance.
“The really simple answer is to keep it side on, the key for batting and getting your feet into a position where you can hit the ball as hard as you can,” Bailey told Michael Clarke.
“The key to that is keeping my back foot very side on, which is something I used to speak to you (Michael Clarke) a lot about when you played as well. My tendency when the ball is swinging is to turn my hip to face the bowler, which then makes my hands lead out and it would get me into a lot of trouble. So it’s just something I’ve been tinkering with to try and make sure my back foot stays as side-on as possible. I’ve found something that’s working really well. Until it stops working, and then maybe I can come up with a new one!”
