Peter Siddle

'Great player, great bloke, great mate' – tributes flow in for Peter Siddle

Peter Siddle

Siddle brought his international career to an end on Sunday, 29 December, after 241 wickets in 89 international appearances.

His coach, Justin Langer, led the tributes. "The year after I retired from playing, Matty Hayden and Ricky Ponting were raving about this guy called Peter Siddle," Langer said. "If it came from them, you knew it was right and so it proved throughout his brilliant international career.

"He is everything of what a team player is. He has given his heart and soul to the Australian team and the game of cricket ... He's going out when he's still playing well which, in a perfect world, is something every athlete wants to do."

Australia Test skipper Tim Paine was among those who hailed the pacer's "massive heart" and described him as the "heart and soul" of the team. To Ricky Ponting, he was "always the first player picked in my team".

Mike Hussey, speaking on Fox Cricket, was all praise for how he had changed his attitude to become one of the best. "Something I really admire about Peter Siddle’s career, when he first came into the team he was a real larrikin and maybe wasn’t as professional as he could’ve been,” Hussey said.

"He maybe was a little bit loose at times and celebrated too hard, but then midway through his career, he just changed his ways and became super professional. He was right on top of all his preparation, changed his diet, he stopped drinking alcohol and became really professional. I really admire him for that."

Siddle famously eats around 20 bananas a day. This dietary quirk got a few shoutouts as well.

Thanks for the memories!

AustraliaPeter Siddle