Peter Siddle - The work-horse Tim Paine’s Australia always looked up to
Peter Siddle has been a workhorse, a leader and a committed learner of the game of cricket, crucial to Australia's bowling plans this decade. He has grown, outgrown some of his pacy counter-parts with his inventions - wobbly seam and moreover, his attitude of never resting until you find a way out.
At 305/4, a young pearl eyed pacer wearing a white-beaded choker came on to bowl in his 17th over of the innings, having already conceded 71 in his first 16 on a hot and humid day in Mohali. Having been hammered twice in the over, Peter ‘Dermie’ Siddle rolled up his sleeve and picked up the prized scalp of none other than Sachin Tendulkar himself with a gentle out-swinger. While the ball swung out, his adventure and journey set in. The celebration that followed was the first of the many in his illustrious career.
If Australia and the selectors had learnt one thing that day from the humidity of Mohali, it was that Siddle can bowl, bowl long-spells, unlike the usual suspects which made him a unique prospect. He’s not your Brett Lee as his pace has always been south of 135, he is definitely not your Mitchell Johnson who likes to give it back to the batsmen.
"All I wanted to do was try hard for the team and do what I could to help the team win. Hard work is a good thing about the way I went about it, my passion to represent Australia. I know individually I wasn't the most talented cricketer going around,” he admitted after his retirement.
Since then, he has been in, out, in, out of the Australian team like it was a Christmas jingle. One thing that never changed was his passion for the game. He hustled, bustled and tussled with his own self in the training session to become the Siddle that we know today. When Mark Taylor shouted “He’s given him! He’s given him!” you could feel the joy with that jump, that jump where he gave Davy Warner a run for his money.
More halts came his way, he punched them like Rocky would and sting like a bee when he floated like a butterfly. Most famously, in his third life, Siddle came back into the Australian camp after his stint in County cricket knowing most of the English batsmen by the twitch of an eye. He had not only mastered the skill of making a comeback during his absence but also mastered the perfection of the wobbly seam. He is the Donatello of the Australian national team who likes to invent, explore and implement new forms of bowling.
"I think it's showed for both teams that the team that have stuck in there and been patient enough, you've been able to get the rewards,” said Siddle to ESPNCricinfo after ‘wobbly’ seam’s success in the Ashes series.
Siddle not only learnt the technique from the Englishmen but also mastered it and further went on to sell it back to the English batsmen in the Aussie pair in the famous Ashes win. All of the Australian pacers, including Mitchell Starc, agreed to the Siddle masterclass ahead of the series. The seed that bore the fruits for the Aussie bowling, wobbly seam became an instantaneous success. At Edgbaston when he was selected ahead of Mitchell Starc, a few eyebrows were raised and it was all but settled post-game.
As Langer came out and called it the "the best none-for I've ever seen," Siddle had a wry smile of what was about to come in the series. First with the bat and then with the ball, Siddle had the English summer up and running for Australia, literally too. Currently, Dermie is the master that the Australian bowlers have in the lot, he is the disciple of the well-oiled Australian seam academy and moreover, he is the man who will go back to his roots the very next day when not having the Baggy Green on.
For an outsider watching the game on the TV, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc might look like the ones that Tim Paine always goes to in a game. For the people who know Tim and Australian cricket, the man in the vault has given his all for the team - blood, sweat and a birthday hat-trick, Siddle who remains the key. A work-horse, a mentor and more importantly Mr Han to Pat Cummins’ Dre Parker. Be it, Justin Langer or Tim Paine, when the time comes they always seek the help of Dermie, the ‘Siddle.’
His figures might not quite be the talking point, his experience, his willpower and his prowess on the field can make him quite distinguishable from the ordinary lot. Coming into the series, he felt that it would be the last hurray to his pin-point accurate Australian career, however, like his career this too was part of the in and out that has shadowed him in the 10-year-long Baggy Green journey having picked up 221 wickets in the 67 Tests that he played.
“I had the goal of playing for Australia, once I got that, it was about playing for Australia for as long as I can. I've given it my all, I've given it enough, and I'm very happy,” and this journey of Siddle would be the one cherished by all the Aussie fans.
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