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The squad announcement for the tour to South Africa made me think about who should be selected for the first Test against the South Africans.
The tour to South Africa will be Australia’s chance to show that the Ashes whitewash was not just a one-off thing against a tired opposition.
Peter Siddle was part of the Australian side that beat England 5-0 in the most recent Ashes tour.
The Australian team was dubbed the ‘unchangeables’ because they used the same XI throughout the whole series. But George Bailey wasn’t selected for the tour, so the side cannot remain the same for the sixth Test in a row.
If they are going to change the side they might as well refresh some players that have not performed as well as they could over the last two Ashes series.
Peter Siddle hasn’t picked up five wickets in an innings in his last 19. In this time he has taken four twice and one or less 13 times. Siddle has been down on pace and couldn’t move it off the straight if he was bowling across a slope.
Peter Siddle hasn’t looked threatening during the last two Ashes series.
If you had the choice of facing Mitch Johnson in full armour and Peter Siddle in short shorts and thongs, you would choose Siddle every day.
Peter Siddle turned 29 a month ago and with the age that is in the current Australian team selections need to be made that look towards the future.
Pattinson is 23 and brings youth to what is an ageing pace attack.
Pattinson has picked up three-wicket hauls in his first 12 games for the Aussies. His most memorable his 5-fer in the first Test in India on a flat track he touched 150 km/h frequently.
His first two Tests in England where affected by injury and his performance was down because of it.
If Pattinson is put in place of Siddle for the first Test, he completes a pace attack which consistently bowls 145+. An attack that can produce that sort of pace will cause problems for all sides.
Pattinson brings the attack to the side at first drop. During the recent Ashes series the game went into a dull period after the openers where taken out of the attack.
Siddle wasn’t causing any problems for the English batsman.
The English would collapse when Johnson and Ryan Harris would come back for there second or third spells.
So what do you think, Roarers?
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