George Bailey has stood down as captain of the Australian Twenty20 cricket team.

The 32-year-old led the Baggy Greens in 28 T20 internationals after becoming skipper in early 2012.

"Personally, I want to focus on my one-day cricket as well as becoming the best long-form player I can to give myself the very best chance to play Test cricket again," Bailey told reporters, when explaining why he had chosen to leave the role.

"Stepping down from the T20 captaincy allows me the option of not playing some T20 international matches so I can play more four-day cricket for Tasmania this side of Christmas.

"With that in mind and also an eye to the future and the 2016 ICC World Twenty20, I consider this to be a good time to step down from the captaincy and allow a new captain the chance to settle into the role."

Bailey has cored 470 runs at an average of 26.11 since making his T20 debut against India in 2012.