C365 Player of the Week: Peter Siddle

Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc may have taken the flashy wickets in the final session against Sri Lanka in Hobart, but it was Peter Siddle’s efforts during the entire match that ensured the win for the hosts.

Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc may have taken the flashy wickets in the final session against Sri Lanka in Hobart, but it was Peter Siddle’s efforts during the entire match that ensured the win for the hosts.

So Starc must remain a bridesmaid, picking up yet another ‘honourable mention’ for his four-fer, while we hand bride Siddle our coveted Player of the Week award for his nine wickets in the match.

The Victoria paceman is known for his hard work and aggression. He’s not the most stylish of bowlers, and he’s not graceful like Dale Steyn or James Anderson, but he can always be counted on to go full tilt, as he showed in the energy-sapping draw against South Africa in Adelaide.

This time, it looked like the Aussies could again be thwarted by a determined batting effort, and with only one session to go in the game, the visitors still had six wickets in hand. But Siddle returned with renewed vigour to prevent the draw.

Sidds had gotten rid of veterans Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara earlier in the day, after they had used up over 400 deliveries between them, and after tea he removed the final two real obstacles in Angelo Mathews and Thilan Samaraweera.

Starc cleaned up the tail from there to seal the win, but Siddle had done the crucial top order removal. This was on top of his first innings five-fer, where he again did the damage where it mattered and prevented Sri Lanka from overtaking the Aussies’s score.

Other honourable mentions must go to England batsmen Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell, who scored centuries in Nagpur to secure a draw and thus a first series win on Indian soil in 28 years. Trott made a determined 143, while Bell made up for his earlier errors on tour to make 116 not out.