da jogodeouro： Peter Siddle believes the eight-day break between Tests will give him enough time to recover from his heavy workload in Durban
Brydon Coverdale12-Mar-2009
Peter Siddle is enjoying the highs of international cricket after starting his career with two series losses © Getty Images
Peter Siddle is confident that his injured foot won’t stop him playing in next week’s third and final Test in Cape Town. Siddle entered thesecond Test in Durban with a sore left foot and will be rested for the one-day series that follows but he believes the eight-day break between Tests would give him enough time to recover from his heavy workload in Durban.As he thumped his boot down in his delivery stride at Kingsmead it washard for him to hide the hurt. To his immense credit, Siddle neverwavered and picked up three crucial top-order wickets in the secondinnings when South Africa gave themselves a sniff of saving the Test.He sent down 28 overs and was so relentlessly quick and accurate thathe was easily the hardest of Australia’s fast men to score off.”You can see by some of the grimaces on his face basically rightthrough this whole game that he has been bowling in a bit of pain,” Ricky Ponting said after the Durban win. “He never shirksthe issue. If you give him the ball, he’ll run in and try his hardestfor you absolutely every ball that he bowls.”He was running in as hard for his last ball as he was for his first.That’s what you want from anyone who represents you and your team. Youwant them to give 100%, 100% of the time. I couldn’t ask for any moreof him.”Siddle has the kind of bone-jarring intensity that means injuries willbe inevitable as he builds on his international workload. His Testcareer is only six matches old but he has already had multipleshoulder reconstructions and he was rested after the home Tests, againdue to a foot problem.”It’s coming along all right. I’ve pulled up a lot better than Ithought I would have,” Siddle said the day after Australia’s Durbanvictory. “I actually felt better yesterday than I had for the few daysbefore.”It is just something I’ve got to work with and work through. But I’vegot ten days now I think until the next Test so it’s enough time tofreshen up and let it rest up a little bit. I never want to miss aTest match for Australia. I definitely won’t be putting my hand up torest for this one.”Siddle is Australia’s second-highest wicket taker in the series andhas been a key factor in the success of a young side that few expectedto triumph. His Test career began with disappointment in India and aseries loss at home but Siddle is now enjoying the highs ofinternational cricket.”After the last series back home we got hammered a bit about how weperformed and how we were going as a squad,” he said. “It was good towin in Sydney to finish off that series and we’ve carried it on herewhich is great.”It was very pleasing as a squad, especially for [Ponting]. He hascopped a lot of flak over the last six months so it’s good for him andespecially all the new blokes coming into the squad. Myself as well,it’s my first Test series win which is really pleasing and I’m veryproud.”