From
Mohali to Melbourne, from a young 24 year old bulky built hulk to a 35 year old
vegan, 14,856 balls in his 11 year old career as Peter Siddle decides to put a
full stop on his International Career that started in October 2008 in Mohali, A
look back to the career of a lion hearted cricketer
It was
Perth Adelaide 2012 and South Africa had a great escape thanks to a fantastic
innings from Faf Du Plessis who batted for almost 8 hours to defy an Australian
win, however Peter Siddle bowled his heart out on a flat Adelaide Oval deck
where he bowled 63.5 over’s in whole Test and 33 over’s in final innings where
he ran with full energy and by the time the test ended he was down on his
knees, his energy was drained and could not get ready for Perth Test. It was
one of the numbers of occasions when Siddle showed what he could do for his
team, when it needed him.
At 24
when he played his first Test at Mohali , Australia was going through a phase
of reformation after series of retirements in past 21 months and they needed
someone like Siddle like character who could instill fire in the team. However
at the moment no one expected him to play for such a long time. Siddle has
shown the glimpses of his character at multiple occasions. In 2009 when Australia has lost their first ever home
series in 16 years and reached Sydney with a chance of suffering whitewash ,
Siddle put his hand up and took match
figures of 8-113 to give Australia much needed win.
2 months
later Australia won the rebound series in South Africa and Siddle was
instrumental in it picking 12 wickets in the series , in first two tests which Australia
won he picked 11 wickets at Johannesburg and Durban. At the Ashes however
Australia suffered another series loss by 2-1 however the only test they won at
Leeds was decided by their pace men Stuart Clarke, Ben Hilfenhaus , Mitchell
Jhonson and Peter Siddle . Siddle destroyed England in first innings picking
5-21.
Siddle
moment of glory came on his 26th Birthday in 2010 when on the
opening day of Ashes, he picked a memorable hat trick dismissing Alistair Cook,
Matt Prior and Stuart Broad, it was one of the few moments of joy in a horrible
summer where Australia lost the Ashes on home soil after 24 years. Over the
period of next four years Siddle became a key figure in the Australian
team. From Nov 2010 to December 2014 he
took 132 wickets in 39 tests at 29.96. This was the time when he was at the
peak of his career and was contributing to Michael Clarke’s team, however the
series against Pakistan in 2014, forced the selectors to shake up some major changes.
This was the time when Siddle has turned
into pure vegetarian and as a result of it the critics felt that he lost all
the strength and pace due to that the arrival of young fast bowlers meant that 30 year old Siddle had limited chances but the
people who know him also tell that he is kind of a bloke who does not gives up
so easily .
In 2015
when Michael Clarke’s men lost the Ashes once again , it was Siddle who won the
Final test and saved Australia from utter humiliation. In spite of all this
Siddle played sporadically getting chances when ever the team was in trouble
after huge losses , however just like he was a lion hearted cricketer he was a
great team man and never complained as he knew and understood the requirement
of team . In last 5 year since December 2014, He played only 11 Tests and it
was clear that slowly and steadily he was getting out of the favor.
After the
end of the Ashes this year when Australia retained the Ashes on English soil
after 18 years , Siddle decided it was right time to retire , he only stayed
due to the request of Justin Langer but
by the end of the year he decided that it was time to move on.
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