Siddle silences doubters with fine display

Peter Siddle has produced a classy display in his Test return, taking 2-18 despite his selection being queried by Test great Shane Warne.

Recalled paceman Peter Siddle has made a mockery of questions over his selection for the fifth Test - and added weight to those who argued he should've played when the Ashes were still on the line.

Funnily enough, both questions were raised by Australia's champion legspinner Shane Warne.

Warne slammed the decision to pick Siddle (2-18 from 10 overs) for the dead rubber Test at the Oval, arguing no one "thought Peter Siddle should have played."

"They've got (a two-Test tour of) Bangladesh coming up which Peter Siddle won't go to and you've got a 22-year-old Pat Cummins (passed over for him)," Warne continued.

"What an opportunity to look at him in a Test match here."

So strongly did he feel about the decision, Warne called on chief selector Rod Marsh to be held accountable for it.

Michael Clarke must've been happy to have Siddle to call on when the dependable right-armer trundled in and grabbed a wicket with his second ball to spark an England collapse.

It came in the form of a gentle long hop, but was enough to force a checked shot from England opener Adam Lyth, who ballooned an attempted pull shot to Mitchell Starc near mid-on.

"I was actually very nervous," Siddle told cricket.com.au.

"It felt like I was debuting again.

"It probably wasn't one of my best balls ... but I think that relaxed me a little bit."

That was his 193rd Test scalp, and 194 soon followed - a millimetre perfect ball which held its line and clipped the top of the off-stump bail after beating Ian Bell's defensive push.

For Warne, it vindicated his view that Siddle should've played in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge, a green-seamer on which Australia were bowled out for 60, rather than his one that the Victorian shouldn't have been playing at the Oval.

"It just emphasises the fact that Peter Siddle should've played the last Test match," Warne said.

"Just imagine what he could've done in those conditions at Trent Bridge and Edgbaston.

"It's rubbing it in the nose of the selectors, watching him bowl like this."

Warne still doesn't believe Australian selectors will invite Siddle onto the "flat roads" of Bangladesh.

But it could be argued that on those flat wickets, Australia may be desperate for the reliable service Siddle offers.

Warne said as much when he admitted captain Michael Clarke had missed the control Siddle was displaying.


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Source: AAP


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