Peter the magnificent leader
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Most overwhelming in the factors for Siddle's recall, however, is that the team now captained by Tim Paine and coached by
Justin Langer was desperate for senior figures. Not only to replace the missing Steven Smith, David Warner, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, but also to help chart a new and better cultural and performance path for the Australian team in their first series since the Newlands
ball-tampering scandal.
In recent years it could be argued that Siddle's skills were rather undervalued by Australia, whether it was in his omission from the 2015 Ashes until the final Test, or his being rushed back from injury into the team in late 2016, whereupon he
re-injured his back. Now, in the team's hour of need, Siddle is back in favour, and he has a clear idea of why this is so.
"JL's spoken a lot about good people and good characters and coming into the side I think, just from an outside point of view, the side probably in the last little bit maybe lacked a bit of leadership," Siddle said in Dubai. "So I think without having the captain or vice-captain or any of those terms, it's just about being a leader in my own right, just doing what I do to lead by example and just help out the young guys and help out the group ... it's stuff I'd normally do.
