Peter Siddle bowled himself into the ground on day five of the Adelaide Test.
His heroic effort will never be forgotten by those who saw it. While his effort didn’t end in success for Australia, it did not truly end in failure either.
Siddle’s fitness is second to none in world cricket. He trains with AFL footballers to improve on his endurance and has done so for many years.
He is careful with his (vegan) diet and his recovery efforts are first class. He hits the ice baths regularly.
After Adelaide, Siddle’s fitness and recovery efforts were in the spotlight.
He himself maintained confidence that he would be fit for the Perth Test after only a three day break.
He consistently told journalists that his body felt good and that he had been getting plenty of sleep. Again he hit the ice baths and was careful to rehydrate properly.
Yet Siddle was left out of the team to play in Perth.
In a pre-game interview, Michael Clarke said that the decision to leave Siddle out was an easy one. Siddle hadn’t recovered well enough and it was obvious that he couldn’t play.
Do these mixed messages highlight another problem in Australian cricket?
Clarke and coach Arthur are both selectors. If Siddle himself had doubts about his fitness, would he confide in Clarke or Arthur?
Siddle publicly backed himself to be fit, so I think he would privately back himself too. Being desperate to play in such an important game in Perth, it would be hard to believe he didn’t back himself.
The problem with having the captain and coach as selectors is that a player can’t confide in either of them if he has doubts or issues that need to be dealt with.
Trying to hide injury, fitness or form issues within the team environment cannot be healthy.
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