George Bailey was the real winner of the Allan Border Medal on Monday night as he received his award for the Domestic Player of the Year.
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The Tasmanian and Hobart skipper was a near certainty to claim the award after a stunning 12-month period where he topped the Sheffield Shield, JLT One-Day Cup and Big Bash League run scoring.
After being dropped by Australian selectors, Bailey underwent a Shivnarine Chanderpaul-like change in his batting stance, facing cover before he played a shot in an unorthodox fashion.
The change in technique has seen Bailey turn back the clock, consistently dispatching bowlers around the country which became the subject of his interview with MC Michael Slater after receiving his award.
When asked what the secret is by Slater, Bailey responded in outstanding fashion.
"I heard Smithy (Steve Smith) talking about training hard," he said in reference to Smith's comments about Glenn Maxwell.
"I’ve gone the other way completely and I’m not saying this is right or wrong- choose your own path people- but at my age I’ve got a little daughter at home so I try and skip training as much as I can and then you get home and then the big decisions about porridge or strawberries or ice cream or bedtime come and that works just as well."
The 35-year-old was also asked about that unorthodox change in technique.
"I was shattered to be dropped from the Aussie one-day team and no doubt the selectors have realised they made a mistake — but that’s okay, I’ve still got plenty of good games left in me," Bailey said.
"My dad said, wise words, he said, ‘Turn the other cheek.’ Misunderstanding, before you know it, I was standing ... I was batting like that. It doesn’t matter how you do it, just get it done."
Bailey notched a combined 1468 runs across all formats at an average of 52.43 throughout the 12-month voting period.
