Dandenong Panthers paceman Peter Siddle returned from injury with a successful trip to Tasmania with the Bushrangers last week.By Paul Pickering
A TRIP to the Apple Isle has given three Dandenong Panthers players a chance to display their talents on the national stage.
Panthers opening batsmen Kumar Sarna and Brett Forsyth have been leading the Victorian under-19 team into battle at the National Championships in Tasmania this week, just days after team-mate Peter Siddle took all before him in his Pura Cup return for the top-of-the-table Bushrangers at Bellerive.
Sarna and Forsyth, who have combined with devastating effect for the Panthers this season, put on 100 runs for the first wicket in the Vics’ dramatic draw with New South Wales on Saturday.
Sarna belted 11 fours and a six in his swashbuckling 77, while Forsyth chipped in with a solid 30 to complement a classy innings of 48 against Western Australia last week.
The exciting opening pair will again be in action this weekend as the top-of-the-table Vics continue their tilt at the national title.
Meanwhile, Siddle will be high on confidence as he prepares to face the Indian touring party at St Kilda Cricket Ground starting today.
The in-form seamer claimed 5/61 in the second innings – to go with 3/33 in the first – as the Bushrangers romped to an eight-wicket outright victory in Hobart last week.
Siddle re-injured his troublesome shoulder in a training mishap last month after starting the summer in full flight.
After easing back into form with two wickets in Dandenong’s demolition of Fitzroy-Doncaster the previous Saturday, he wasted no time reasserting himself at domestic level.
Siddle will now be looking to become a mainstay of the injury-riddled Bushrangers as they make a gutsy surge towards the Pura Cup and Ford Ranger Cup silverware.
