Bailey compared to 'Mr. Cricket' Hussey due to consistency in performance

Australian vice-captain George Bailey has reportedly been compared to Australia's 'Mr. Cricket' and former Test cricketer Michael Hussey given that he is one of the few batsmen in the team to show consistency this year.

Bailey, who made an impressive 82 off just 67 balls in Australia's win over England in the second one-dayer in Manchester, was 14th in the latest ICC player rankings for one-day internationals, just behind Shane Watson (11th) and Michael Clarke (12th).

However, news.com.au reports that Bailey is likely to move further up that list after the current series with his performance at Old Trafford, adding that Bailey has racked up almost 1000 runs at an average of 46 after his ODI debut early last year and his current statistics are sitting at 53 after strong showings in 2013.

Although the report said that it is a bit premature to compare Bailey with Hussey given that Bailey's first-class average currently sits at 38 as compared to Hussey's 53 before his Test debut, however, like Bailey, Hussey served a long apprenticeship in domestic cricket before eventually being handed his international debut in his late 20s.

Similar to Hussey, Bailey also appears to opt for power over patience against England after combining with Clarke to push Australia to an intimidating 7-315, adding that his impressive performances this year have been in stark contrast to those forward by young players such as Usman Khawaja, Phillip Hughes and David Warner.

With almost a decade of first-class cricket under his belt and a steadily-growing international pedigree to boot, the report concluded that Bailey is in a strikingly similar place to where Hussey was before his Test debut.