Siddle cementing his place

Fast bowler eager to work hard after a fine showing in Sydney

Last updated: 5th January 2009

Siddle cementing his place

Siddle: Relentless

Watch day five of Australia v South Africa live on Sky Sports 1 from 11.15pm (GMT) on Monday

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Promising paceman Peter Siddle is keen to secure a regular place in Australia's Test team after notching his maiden five-wicket haul in the third Test against South Africa.

The 24-year-old Victorian ripped through the Proteas' tail on day three at The SCG as the tourists were restricted to 327 in their first innings.

News of Brett Lee's ankle operation had looked set to reduce the team's attack significantly, but the former woodchopper increased his haul to 10 wickets in the series on Monday and he wants to continue to prove himself at the top level.

Improvement

"It's very pleasing to get my first five-for and I feel happy about that obviously," Siddle said.

"It's just good to be able to go out there and stand up for the team and just be a part of the team. Everyone bowled well and we all worked together and it was a good result.

"There's always pressure, I had a disappointing match over in Perth and Ben Hilfenhaus had come into the squad so there's pressure on everyone I think.

"You want to stand up and just get your rhythm right and start bowling well and I hadn't bowled well in Perth so I wanted to just work on a few things and get a few things into my game.

"And that's where it all happened at The MCG and I started feeling comfortable and started to feel a lot better so it's all going well at the moment."

Strengths

Siddle's destructive spell at the close of the Proteas' innings, yielded four wickets for just eight runs from six overs and the seamer insists consistency and determination are key.

"They seem to give it to us when we get out there and bat so they've got to cop it back I suppose as well," he added.

"When you've worked hard all day you want to try and get a few more wickets so I think you've just got to keep running in and keep crashing the wicket and I was lucky enough to get the results so it was a good finish."

Australia moved on to 33 without loss at stumps and hold an overall lead of 151 runs heading into day four on a deteriorating SCG pitch.

The hosts have already lost the series, but must avoid defeat to maintain their status as the world's top ranked Test team.