AUS vs SA 2016: Peter Siddle Back In Australia XI For Perth Test
Nov 2, 2016 at 1:12 PM
Fit-again Peter Siddle will return to the Australian side for the Perth Test against South Africa, starting Thursday. Skipper Steven Smith confirmed Australia’s playing XI ahead of the home season opener.
Siddle, who suffered a back injury during the Test series against New Zealand in February, performed well in Victoria’s Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania recently. Smith praised Siddle’s 61-Test experience and said the likes of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood will get a much-needed boost due to his presence.
“Those type of bowlers are the kind of bowlers that can sort of bowl consistent areas, hit good areas and build some pressure and keep the runs down,” Smith said.
“So I guess it complements the other guys well.”
Australia have not been in great form in the recent past as they lost 3-0 to Sri Lanka in their last Test series and 5-0 in the ODI series against South Africa. But according to Smith, they are not mentally disturbed by the losses and are currently focused on winning the Test series that starts on Thursday.
“Obviously we haven’t come off the back of much great cricket,” he said.”South Africa was disappointing and Sri Lanka was as well but that has gone. We have left that behind.
“It is about focusing on what we can control now,” he concluded.
Australian team for first Test: David Warner, Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith (c), Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill (wk), Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood