Peter Siddle last played for Australia in 2016 in Perth against South Africa, where he aggravated an injury before being forced out of action. Over the next two years, he seemed in danger of fading into oblivion as far as international cricket was concerned. But Siddle earned a surprise recall to the Test side for the two-match series against Pakistan with Australia turning to his experience in the absence of the injured Cummins and Hazlewood.
“A strong Big Bash gave me a lot of confidence and then playing a bit more cricket in England after being injured has helped,” Siddle told Cricbuzz before his selection.
“Getting more cricket under my belt is starting to pay dividends. (It’s) showing that I can still perform at the highest level and am putting the ball in the right place. I could definitely still be doing that at international level.
“The big thing in the past 12 months is that I’ve concentrated a lot more than I probably have previously on not being too focused about getting back into the Australian side. Instead, I’ve tried to focus on the games I am playing in. Over the last year, my attitude has been that I’ve got to be on the park and performing for whatever side I’m playing for. I’m enjoying cricket. The last twelve months, I’ve had a lot of fun. I’ve played some of my better cricket and over here this summer, I’ve put in some of my best performances in a very long time. That’s the pleasing thing.”
Siddle has played 62 Tests for 211 wickets, apart from 17 ODIs and two T20Is.
