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Have we seen the last of Peter Siddle?

Roar Rookie
17th March, 2014
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Peter Siddle celebrates a wicket. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
Roar Rookie
17th March, 2014
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It had been a magnificent summer for Peter Siddle, at least from a team perspective, until Darren Lehmann and co made the sort of tough call that has made him popular with the Australian cricketing public.

Alarmed by Siddle’s lack of pace in their 5-0 Ashes whitewash and first two Tests on South African soil, Lehmann dropped the lion-hearted wood-chopper for the decider in South Africa.

Now that the dust has well and truly settled on Australia’s Test summer, the emotion around Siddle’s ommision and Australia’s ultimate series triumph, let us ask ourselves the question: will Peter Siddle ever play Test cricket again?

Darren Lehmann gave a somewhat qualified indication that he believes Siddle will return.

“[Siddle would] like some more wickets obviously but it’s the pace drop. We need him bowling 140 and at the moment he’s averaging 131, 132. He knows that, we’ve spoken to him and I’m sure he will be back bigger and stronger.”

So it seems that it is merely a matter of Siddle finding an extra eight kilometres per hour before October 24 and Australia’s next Test against Pakistan in Dubai to reclaim his place in the team.

His accuracy and work rate certainly cannot be questioned, so it might well be that Lehmann was simply concerned Siddle was getting tired. The call was therefore made to bring in James Pattinson, and the extra pace he brings, for the crucial final Test.

Another factor in Siddle’s favour in returning to the Test team is the propensity for Australia to suffer injuries. Indeed, it is probably the reason that Siddle was such a mainstay of the Australian Test team.

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Mitch Starc, Pat Cummins, Jackson Bird and Pattinson have all threatened to permanently break into the team, however none have been able to play consistently.

Siddle is also 29, while Ryan Harris and Mitch Johnson, clearly above Siddle in the fast bowling pecking order, are the wrong side of 30. Still, both have made clear their intentions to keep playing for as long as possible, as their careers have both been stunted for different reasons.

It remains to be seen whether their bodies will be able to cope, as both are currently out injured – Harris recovering from knee surgery and Johnson with a toe infection. Siddle therefore remains a fairly good chance to break back into the Australian team simply by being fit.

Yet the very thing that may help Siddle force his way back into the team may also hinder his progression– the time between now and Australia’s next Test.

While this break will give Siddle a rest and an oppurtunity to refine his technique and recover some lost pace, it will also give the aforementioned bowlers a chance to recover from any injuries and mature both mentally and physically.

It is not inconceivable that, come October, Siddle is not even included in the travelling sextet of fast bowlers to tour the Middle East. Australia are already building for an away Ashes series in 2015, and may pick a combination of youth and experience.

The experience picked is likely to be in the form or Harris and Johnson so the selectors could find it hard to justify picking Siddle, thus denying valuable international experience for a player such as Pattinson or Starc.

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Ever since famously taking a hat trick on his birthday against England, Siddle has been a fan favourite.

For Victorians, Siddle was a favourite son from the moment he was selected for Australia, and he has been given the best reception a bowler has received on the MCG since Shane Warne bowled Andrew Strauss to take his 700th Test wicket.

In front of 90,000 fans on Boxing Day 2013, the roar that accompanied Siddle’s first ball to his bunny Kevin Pietersen was absolutely spinetingling – the clear highlight on an otherwise quite benign day’s cricket.

For these moments and more, the Australian public will always fondly remember Peter Siddle.

Most would hope that his international career is not over, that he is back next summer bowling on Boxing Day, working his way towards 200 wickets from the 188 he currently has from 53 Tests.

But the reality of forward planning may mean that Siddle will struggle to play Test cricket for Australia again.

The selectors, and most objective viewers, will see a Test series against Pakistan as the ideal time to get some new blood into Australia’s brilliant but undeniably old fast-bowling attack.

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A Siddle-less Australia is, for this Victorian, something that is difficult to contemplate and quite sad.

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