Honest, big-hearted, bustling – all words used to describe Australian paceman Peter Siddle. But the new white lightning? Not so much.
Young tearaways James Pattinson and the injured Pat Cummins have hogged the limelight with their ability to bowl scarily fast, but it was Siddle who cracked the 150km/h barrier again at Bellerive on Friday after doing the same in the first Test.
The Victorian had clocked the four fastest deliveries by the middle of the first day of the second Test.
They included another Brett Lee-like 150km/h thunderbolt in a fiery performance that netted 3-42 and collected New Zealand’s top scorer Dean Brownlie on the helmet.
Utilising the rare seamer-friendly conditions brilliantly, the 27-year-old consistently beat the bat with his new-found shape and speed, and his trademark aggression.
While Pattinson finished with a second straight five-wicket haul, no doubt captain Michael Clarke will have similar thoughts on Siddle’s performance to those he expressed in Brisbane.
With Cummins, Ryan Harris and Mitchell Johnson all sidelined for the first Test, Siddle suddenly went from uncertain selection to Australia’s spearhead.
Clarke credited him with helping Pattinson to his stunning second-innings haul of 5-27.
In Hobart, Siddle bowled the second over – after Pattinson – but got the breakthrough for Australia when he snared the wicket of Martin Guptill with just his second ball.
“He’s bowling as fast as he ever has bowled and he’s swinging the ball now,” Pattinson said.
“I think that’s a lot to do with (bowling coach) Craig McDermott working with us in the off-season.
“Sidds has always been able to swing the ball but not consistently, but now he’s doing it almost every ball and at good pace.”
Only days ago there was speculation Siddle could be shunted aside to make room for the return of Cummins or Harris, with the variety that left-armer Mitchell Starc provides considered a major plus for the young New South Welshman.
But after the improvements to his game made under McDermott, he is fast making himself indispensable.
A tough series beckons against the wall-like defences of India’s batsmen, the kind of outing that can bring youngsters back to earth.
Siddle steaming in with 80,000 Victorians behind him on Boxing Day? He might clock anything.
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