Peter Siddle says he is pleased that he won’t be having to face Kevin Pietersen in an England shirt in The Ashes this summer and believes he is an irreplaceable player in the same way Shane Warne was for Australia.
The seamer, who has just completed his final game for Lancashire, was responding to the announcement from the ECB and new Director of England cricket Andrew Strauss that Pietersen’s recall to the team was ‘not in the best interests of the side’ due to a lack of trust.
Siddle believes that certain types of players are irreplaceable and compared the Pietersen situation to the struggle Australia had trying to replace Shane Warne.
“There’s never really been a lot of players like that,” Siddle said at Old Trafford.
“You can’t find someone to replace him. It’s like trying to find someone to replace Shane Warne. I think those players are once in a lifetime, with their confidence and aggression in the field.
“You can never replace them and that’s what people have to come terms with. Players like that don’t grow on trees. I don’t know if they are less frightening without him. It’s an Ashes series.
“Whatever line up gets thrown at us we just have to be ready for them and attack them the best we can.”
Siddle, who has dismissed Pietersen more times in Test cricket than any other bowler, says he will be happy to not have to face the batsman and believes Australia went through similar struggles on the last Ashes tour.
“A bloke that averages 50 in test cricket I’m happy enough to have out the side,” Siddle said. “Get somebody in who averages less.
“I can’t be fussed about it really. I think we’ve been through our own thing over here last time. I think the way we turned things around in a short time does make you a little bit wary.
“We just worried about the cricket and that got us the good results so we’ll just be worried about that when we come out here.
“I’ll miss the opportunity to bowl at him but the bloke averages 50 – you don’t want to be bowling against blokes who average 50 all the time.”
