If Australia need one of their four seamers to step down in Adelaide, Peter Siddle is adamant it must not be him.
Australia seamer does not want to make way for Lyon in Adelaide
With spinner Nathan Lyon set to be named in the playing XI for the fourth and final Test against India, Australia need one of their four seamers to step down. Peter Siddle is adamant it must not be him.
Conditions primed for swing and seam greeted all and sundry in Perth, where both teams fielded an all-pace attack. The pitch on offer at the Adelaide Oval, however, won't prove as much of a belter, leaving Lyon's return to the team an inevitability more than a probability.
Which seamer the spinner will replace, though, hangs in the balance. Ryan Harris needs a second game on the trot to prove his fitness, Mitchell Starc did a superb job in replacing the injured James Pattinson last week and Ben Hilfenhaus is proving the workhorse of the attack.
Siddle, meanwhile, has played eight consecutive Test matches since returning to the side against Sri Lanka in September last year. Australia's rotation policy almost demands that he be rested come the Adelaide clash, which gets underway on Tuesday.
"Any opportunity to play for Australia is a great honour and I definitely don't want to give my spot up to anyone else and let them have the opportunity," said Siddle.
"I want to play. I would think so, yes. But we'll have to see what happens in the future. We'll have to have the discussion about a rest but my thoughts are definitely to play in Adelaide."
Feeling good
The right-armer acknowledged that Australia's dominance over India has helped him cope with the rigours of Test match competition. The hosts have required less than 11 days of cricket to secure an unassailable three-nil series lead. Winning inside four days in Melbourne and Sydney, they then screamed to victory on just the third morning of the Perth Test.
"I've pulled up really good. It's always nice to finish up in just over two days. It was quite a surprise that we got it done so early and it was good to get home for a few days," he added. I'm feeling good, the body's great and I'm looking forward to getting over to Adelaide."
Without an ODI cap throughout last year, Siddle admitted that opportunity knocked for a limited-overs return ahead of the tri-series against India and Sri Lanka. As Shane Watson, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Johnson continue to nurse injuries, the 27-year-old will certainly be in the selectors' minds.
"At the moment we've got a few injuries so hopefully I do get my opportunity to get back in there and have a crack, obviously I want to," insisted Siddle, who last played ODI cricket in November 2010.
"But I guess those boys will be coming back at the same time, so there might be a time that they can have a look at a few of us and give us a bit of a rest and get a few different blokes in there."
