3 minute read

Peter Siddle has confirmed the old adage that form is temporary and class is permanent with a masterly BBL display at the Adelaide Oval.

Peter Siddle didn't need the armchair critics telling him how badly he was bowling.

But they told him anyway.

Washed up, over the hill, time to retire ... the 37-year-old Adelaide Strikers captain had heard all the noise.

Nobody was more disappointed than the man himself, who was conceding almost 10 runs an over for a team wallowing in last place on the points table.

Yet on Wednesday night, Siddle turned it all around, snaring 5-23 with a beautiful display of crafty seam bowling to spur his Strikers to a convincing seven-wicket victory over the Hobart Hurricanes.

"The older you get, when you have bad performances, you probably cop more criticism than you do when you're younger," Siddle said after joining Perth Scorchers paceman AJ Tye as the leading BBL wicket-taker this summer.

"You get a few more chances when you're younger with inexperience, but when you're experienced and old, you're expected to just be doing it, or you should be retired.

"I've copped plenty of grief over the past couple of weeks - but that's fine.

"For me the execution is what I've been disappointed with, not just wickets and figures. It's knowing I can do better and execute better and bowl better deliveries."

With his second delivery, Siddle snared Ben McDermott, the competition's leading run scorer, before hitting the woodwork four times, recapturing his trademark unerring accuracy.

"Not so much the five wickets, but more the execution of the balls I wanted to bowl was better," Siddle said, when asked about what pleased him most.

"I was a bit more on target with yorkers, slower balls, hitting the right length and line. That's the key."

Siddle is hopeful his side can use the landslide win, which snapped a six-match losing skid, as a springboard for a late assault on a finals berth.

"Hopefully, it can be a kick-starter and we can get on a bit of a roll," he said.

"Seeing the boys happy, cheerful and buzzing around after the bowling performance and during the batting performance, that's why I still play the game."