Baggy green for Panther

By Paul Pickering
PETER Siddle became the latest Dandenong Panthers product to join the Test cricketers’ club last week, following in the footsteps of Darren Pattinson and Cameron White.
The 23-year-old Panthers paceman received a late call-up to the Australian team after frontline seamer Stuart Clark withdrew with an elbow injury.
He was presented with his baggy green cap on Friday, becoming the 403rd player to represent Australia at Test level.
Siddle’s debut has capped an extraordinary four months for the Dandenong Cricket Club, with Pattinson and White ascending to the Test ranks after beginning their district careers at Shepley Oval.
First it was Pattinson’s improbable rise to the English Test team in July, then White’s call-up to join the Aussies in Bangalore a fortnight ago, and now Siddle.
Panthers coach Warren Ayres has played alongside them all, and said it was a proud time for the club.
“I was just saying to Darren (Pattinson) the other day that it seems funny to put the TV on to watch the Australian team and see Whitey and Siddle playing,” he laughed this week.
“But it‘s great for those guys and fantastic to watch.”
Siddle made his debut in the ones at Dandenong as a 17-year-old, and Ayres remembers it well.
“He was a little fat kid from Morwell who had a great attitude,” he said.
Ayres reckons it is that same attitude that has seen Siddle overcome a series of injuries – including two shoulder reconstructions in the past two years – en route to securing a Test berth.
In fact, it was Siddle’s toughness – rather than sheer talent – that first made a believer out of Ayres.
“If there was one moment that sticks in my mind, it’s when we won the grand final against St Kilda (in 2006-07),” Ayres recalled.
“He played that game with extreme injuries to his foot, but he kept running in and running in. He bowled like the wind and scared the hell out of them.”
Siddle’s persistence on a banal Mohali pitch was among few positives for Australians in the second Test, as the tourists were dealt their heftiest Test defeat in almost a decade.
The bustling quickie finished with match figures of 4/176 – the best of the Aussie bowlers.
His most memorable moment came late on the first day, when he drew an edge from master batsman Sachin Tendulkar – on 88 at the time – to register his first Test wicket.
Clark is a chance to return for the third Test, but most pundits believe there will be plenty of chances ahead for Siddle.
Ayres is one of them.
“It’s been a tough road for him and he’s had some setbacks, but he’s stayed positive and worked his way up, so I think he deserves a good go at it,” he said.
“I’m sure he’ll go on to have a really good career.”