PETER SIDDLE recalls skirmishing with South Africa as a net bowler three summers ago, but it is the wound above the eyebrow of WA batsman Liam Davis that hints best at the damage he could inflict if he is unleashed on a WACA Ground pitch against the Proteas.
"I guess if you can get 'em out that way, it's as good as any," said Siddle as he rushed to catch a plane to Perth yesterday, having answered his country's call to replace injured paceman Stuart Clark in the squad for the first Test.
There are no frills about the 24-year-old fast bowler from Traralgon in country Victoria, but he's now on the verge of completing the ascent from net bowler to Australia's great pace hope for the eagerly anticipated South Africa series.
Siddle will compete with all-rounder Shane Watson for a spot in the starting XI, which would build on his impressive debut when Clark succumbed to the same elbow problem in Mohali in October.
In Siddle's favour is the damage he did to Davis in a Sheffield Shield game three weeks ago, when a short-pitched delivery climbed off the WACA Ground surface, crashed through the grill of the opener's helmet and struck him above the eye. The blow was so fierce that Davis still has blurred vision, and was forced to withdraw from the Shield game starting at the MCG today.
"It was my first bowl back in Australia after India and the wicket was real fast and bouncy, I really enjoyed it," said Siddle, who took 2-71 in the first innings of that match but went wicketless in the second. "I guess it will be fast and bouncy again for the Test. You always want to try and charge in and bowl fast and hit the wicket hard, and Liam happened to be on the end of that one."
Siddle has form - his first ball in Test cricket rose up and smacked into the helmet of Indian opener Gautam Gambhir - and some knowledge of the South African batsmen.
"I was a net bowler when South Africa was out here last time so I have bowled to a few of their batsmen. I can't remember much about it but I think I got a couple of wickets."
That was when Siddle was yet to make an impact on the domestic scene. Now he has a chance to emulate one of his boyhood heroes, legendary South African quick Allan Donald, on the fastest pitch in the country.
"It's a bit of a surprise. I was just relaxing at home and I got the call. Now we just have to wait and see if I play."
Should he play against the Proteas, Ricky Ponting will have to decide whether to toss the new ball to the bustling right-armer who shapes the ball away, or the in-form left armer Mitchell Johnson, who has been brandishing a shiny new Kookaburra at training and has been the most dangerous of the quicks of late.
"Mitch is bowling really well, the last 12 months he has been fantastic," said vice-captain Michael Clarke. "He is certainly bowling with good pace and he will enjoy it out here. We will have to wait and see if he does get the new ball. I think it will be determined by who we play and if 'Punter' wants him to bowl up into the breeze, because I would imagine Binga [Brett Lee] will be bowling downbreeze to start.
"I still think we are in a good position. Peter Siddle has been a fantastic performer for Victoria and I am sure if he gets the opportunity he will be making the most of it."
With Clark in doubt for the rest of the summer, Siddle could also realise his boyhood dream of playing in a Boxing Day Test. "In the 24 years I've been alive, I've probably watched 14 or 15 of them. To walk out wearing the baggy green in a home Test in front of 70,000 or 80,000 people would be pretty amazing." AUSTRALIA'S ALTERED ATTACK
Likely attack for first Test v South Africa - 2008 Tests Wkts 5 10 Brett Lee 74 309 10 0 Mitchell Johnson 15 61 1 0 Peter Siddle 1 4 0 0 Jason Krejza 1 12 1 1 Total 91 386 12 1
Attack for first Test v South Africa - 2005 Glenn McGrath 116 534 28 3 Brett Lee 46 179 5 0 Nathan Bracken 4 10 0 0 Shane Warne 132 645 34 10 Total 298 1368 67 13
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