Bailey is adamant his form is right for Test after Shield matches George Bailey during the Shield match Picture: Luke Bowden Source: Mercury George Bailey hits a four for Tasmania against Victoria in their Sheffield Shield match at Bellerive on Friday. GEORGE Bailey is adamant his patchy Sheffield Shield performances will count for little when he makes his Test debut against England this week. Bailey's failure to turn starts into big scores since a stunning one-day tour of India continued yesterday when he made just 16 in the second innings of Tasmania's 129-run outright loss to Victoria at Bellerive. The Tigers captain has made Shield scores of 34, 41, 37 and 16 since his return from the subcontinent, where he averaged 95.6 in Australia's six matches. " (It's) frustrating not to get through and get big scores, (but) pleasing to be getting starts and to be feeling really good at the crease," Bailey told reporters. As a batter you're always greedy to get more but you still start on zero. There's no real lasting implications either way, whether you get runs or don't. The 31-year-old, who skippered Australia in India, knocked down the door of Test selection with the sheer weight of his one-day runs and his undoubted leadership ability. But his first-class average remains 38 and plummeted to 18.8 for the 2012-13 season. Bailey said he had never felt more ready to step up, something he has done at one-day and Twenty20 international level. Test opener Chris Rogers also struggled in the Shield match with scores of three and 11 after coming into it in superb touch. Allrounder James Faulkner provided the positive for the Ashes squad in Hobart with a fighting 53 that threatened to save the game for Tasmania. The 23-year-old put on 68 with Tim Paine (30) for the sixth wicket after they had come together at 5-116 with their side chasing an unlikely 337. "We all know how destructive James Faulkner can be," said Victorian opener Rob Quiney, who made 82 and 86. To get (Paine and Faulkner) within the space of two or three overs, that was the clincher. Meanwhile former Test opener and Western Australia coach Justin Langer believes the revolutionary drop-in wicket at Adelaide Oval needs work before it hosts the second Ashes Test in early December after serving up a record run feast in the Warriors' Sheffield Shield stalemate with South Australia. The pitch, rolled out at the historic ground in late September, coughed up well over 1000 runs and produced three centurions across the four-day encounter that culminated in a draw yesterday. The visitors finished on 3-202 with a 35-run lead in their second dig after the Redbacks were bowled out on Saturday morning for a whopping 601 - the highest total recorded by South Australia against WA in the Sheffield Shield. "I know there was a directive at the start of the year to produce better batting friendly wickets (in Australia), but I think that probably went to the extreme," Langer said. I'm certainly not blaming the curator because it's a new wicket here at Adelaide Oval, but it was probably too flat for a really good game of Shield cricket. I'm sure they'll use this game and the next one to get it right, or certainly a feel for it, for the Test match. Langer said the state of the track should take nothing away from the titanic efforts of forgotten man Marcus North, former Redbacks skipper Michael Klinger and axed Test batsman Phil Hughes, who all reached triple figures. In Brisbane, Test No. 5 batsman Steven Smith could not complain about his Ashes build-up with the bat after notching 69 and 36 in NSW's 150-run Sheffield Shield win over Queensland sealed at Allan Border Field yesterday. And after taking his Shield tally to 317 runs at 63.40 - third overall highest - even Bulls quick Ben Cutting conceded Smith was "in the form of his life" ahead of the Ashes opener. "I have played as a specialist batsman for the last year now," Smith said. It's a choice I made to put my spin on the back foot for a little while and it's paid off. I feel like I am heading in the right direction. My batting is the most important thing right now. Still, Smith is willing to make an exception for an Australian team sweating on Shane Watson (hamstring) ahead of the Ashes. "If I need to roll the arm over and help out that's what I will do," said Smith, who made his 2010 Test debut as a leg-spinning allrounder. But now someone else's spin interests Smith more. They were pretty dry wickets in England. I am sure they won't have the same assistance as they did over there (for England player Graeme Swann's spin)," he said. It's a good opportunity for us to try and get on top of someone like that (Swann). And the prospect of facing England's tall timber of Stuart Broad, Chris Tremlett, Steve Finn and Boyd Rankin at a bouncy Gabba hardly fazed Smith. We expect some short pitched bowling. We know what's coming, we are ready for it," he said. The more he (Swann) bowls the more they give the quick bowlers a rest. If we attack him they have to bring the quicks back and that is going to be good for us - that's our gameplan. Smith and NSW's other Test batsmen David Warner and Brad Haddin all warmed up with the bat in the Shield game against Queensland. Warner (52) and Smith (69) helped the Blues blast 386 in their first dig before Haddin belted a 46-ball unbeaten 50 and declared the second innings at 8-270, setting up the mammoth winning target of 435. NSW's Test spinner Nathan Lyon had match figures of 3-67. A defiant Chris Hartley (78 not out) could not stop NSW bowling out Queensland for 284 in an extended morning session on Saturday to seal victory. NSW's former Test bowler Trent Copeland had match figures of 7-99.