In early 2010, Bailey was called up for the ODIs in New Zealand when Michael Clarke returned home for personal reasons – but did not win a cap. He subsequently had to wait until 2012 to make his international debut. When he did, he did so as captain of the Australian national Twenty20 team, succeeding Cameron White prior to the two match series against India, which ended 1–1. He became the second ever Australian to captain an international game, without having played an international game before, after Dave Gregory in the first ever Test match.