PERTH: George Bailey has termed the recent criticism of Australian skipper Michael Clarke ‘unfair’ and has backed him to bounce back to form.

Clarke, who had a woeful time in the series against Pakistan in the UAE, averaged just 14.25 as Pakistan defeated Australia 2-0 in the two-Test series.

Bailey however pointed out Clarke’s strong overall record and said it was wrong for people to criticise him.

“If you look at his record, it speaks for itself. It’s obviously a position people care a lot about,” Bailey said of Clarke.

“The Australian cricket team means a lot to a lot of people. So that’s a great thing for cricket. But, I’ll back Clarke to the hilt in terms of his performance and what he’s done. The hard thing to look at is just how different the conditions were that they’ve just come from.

“I’m backing him to respond the one way that we know he does, and that’s with steely determination and big runs,” Bailey added.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2014