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Bailey’s first Lord’s hundred protects Middlesex lead
- Updated: August 7, 2016
Surrey 415 (Roy 110, Burns 88, Foakes 63*) and 266 for 7 dec (S Curran 71, Foakes 65*, Roland-Jones 3-44, Rayner 3-71) drew with Middlesex 293 (Gubbins 82, Simpson 58, S Curran 4-60) and 278 for 6 (Bailey 110*, Franklin 70, Ansari 4-63)Scorecard
A little after six o’clock on the final afternoon, George Bailey unfurled a sumptuous straight drive off Sam Curran. It was the final ball of the match, and a draw was already assured, but no matter: Bailey’s excellence was undiluted until the very end.
Middlesex have been served magnificently by Australian batsmen in recent seasons, Chris Rogers and Adam Voges among them. Yet as Bailey walked off at Lord’s, saluted by the opposition and the MCC’s members, he could reflect on an innings that any of them would have been proud to claim as their own.
Bailey had not merely protected north London pride, prickled when Surrey knocked Middlesex out of the Royal London One-Day Cup on Tuesday, but also enhanced Middlesex’s lead at the summit of the County Championship to 13 points, although Yorkshire, one point further back, retain a game in hand.
He has enjoyed a storied career, captaining Australia in the World Twenty20, playing in the Indian Premier League and being involved in a 5-0 Ashes win. Yet this was something new: a first century at Lord’s, and the private bliss that followed. “I’d be happy with no one in the ground here. Playing here is so special,” Bailey said.
While Bailey is accustomed to T20 pyrotechnics, here he revealed himself to be a man with adhesive defence and an unbending will to resist Surrey, though never did he abandon his relish for marmalising any delivery that offered width. Bailey’s century arrived through three consecutive rasping cuts, off Stuart Meaker; 15 of his 20 fours came between backward point and extra cover.
Along the way Bailey had done a little to revive the battered reputation of Australian players against spin bowling, even if he will encounter …
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