Peter Siddle aiming for victory tonic

10 April 2012

Peter Siddle has admitted it would be "very pleasing" if Australia could claim a whitewash against England in their one-day series.

The tourists are currently 5-0 ahead in the seven-match series and can move closer to the feat today when they play the second of back-to-back matches at Trent Bridge.

Siddle made his first appearance of the series in Nottingham on Tuesday, when skipper Ricky Ponting's imperious 126 from 109 balls helped the tourists chase down 300 with four wickets in hand.

It was a moment to savour for the skipper following a tour that will be remembered for his failure to win the Ashes on English soil for the second consecutive time.

And while Siddle admits the disappointment of losing the Test series would not be overcome by an one-day whitewash, it would provide more than just consolation.

"It would be very pleasing," he said.

"We've copped a lot of grief over the past two months over our performances in the Ashes, so to get a little back here and finish off these last two matches with wins would be a pleasing way to finish.

"We don't want to slacken off now and let all that momentum that we've built up go. We're going to be fighting hard to win the next two and win 7-0."

Australia are likely to shuffle their team in the final two matches with the Champions Trophy, which starts in South Africa next week, in mind.
That policy afforded Siddle his chance on Tuesday when he came in for the rested Brett Lee and, after operating at speeds over 90 miles per hour, claimed figures of one for 50 from 10 overs.

It was just Siddle's second ODI and while he is a novice in the form of the game he is hoping to prove he is worth a regular place alongside fellow quicks Lee and Mitchell Johnson on the faster-paced wickets of South Africa.

"There is plenty to play for personally in these final two games," he said.

"I want to try and secure a spot in the Champions Trophy. That's my aim.

"I know I've got to try and take this chance because Brett (Lee) has bowled so well in the series.

"I don't know if it's a straight shoot-out between us. It could depend on the wickets in South Africa and how they (the selectors) want to line up.

"South African wickets are a bit faster so I might be a chance to play with him rather than against him."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Sign up you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy notice .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in