How this peroxide-blond, vegan ex-Test star is bowling 140km/h at 41

2 months ago 14

Peter Siddle continues to defy age in more ways than just his peroxide blond hair.

The Melbourne Stars quick is still mixing it with the best of the young bowling brigade in this year’s Big Bash League, continually sending down balls that break through the 140km/h barrier.

Veteran Peter Siddle has been a key bowler for the Melbourne Stars this summer.

Siddle, 41, retired from first-class cricket in March last year but credits a new training regime for his ability to maintain a sizzling pace in the short-form game.

“The idea to keep continuing to try and bowl fast, like I did last summer, and try and push the boundaries a little bit for not just anyone, but probably someone that’s in their 40s – it’s been pleasing,” Siddle said ahead of the Stars’ clash with Melbourne Renegades at the MCG on Sunday night.

“I think it’s always nice and refreshing to try a new training program, see how it’s going to work and then to see the benefits come out on the field, I think has been very pleasing for me.”

A renowned fitness addict and vegan, Siddle has been outstanding in his five matches for the Stars so far this season, taking a competition-leading 10 wickets for 136 runs at an average of 13.6 and an economy rate of 6.8.

He has helped elevate the MCG-based outfit to the top of the BBL table, dropping their first game of the tournament on Friday night in a thriller against Brisbane Heat at the Gabba during which the home team reached their 196-run target with two balls to spare.

Siddle, who played 67 Tests for Australia (the last of those in 2019), told the Stars website he had teamed up with the club’s strength-and-conditioning coach, Joel Tratt, to devise a personalised training regime for a six-week T20 cricket league that starts in December.

“I think in the past, it’s always been, ‘I’m playing [state] cricket, so I’m bowling – I’m doing things to get me ready and prepared’,” he said.

“So I had to think of how I wanted to do it this year. I had to try something different.”

“Something different” has been stepping away from programs designed for teammates who are still playing all formats of professional cricket, and working on his own game.

Siddle was one of the Stars’ foundation players in 2011 – although he did not play a match in that tournament because of national duties – and has now played 97 BBL games, mostly for the Adelaide Strikers and Melbourne Renegades.

Before he went blond, Siddle played 67 Tests for Australia.

He has taken 121 BBL wickets at an average of 20.98 and an economy rate of 7.56.

But leading into last season his career was in doubt. He did not have a contract until two weeks before the first game of the tournament when he was snapped up by the Stars.

Back in 2010, Siddle was a hat-trick hero for Australia at the Gabba on November 25 – his birthday.

He has embraced his new teammates, saying there was a “buzz” around the Stars’ change rooms.

“I think that’s what I enjoy about it. That’s what I love. That’s why I’m still playing the game,” he said.

“Obviously, I love being out in the middle bowling, but also the change room and being around the boys, having a bit of fun, having a laugh, and enjoying my cricket.”

Organisers are expecting up to 60,000 at the MCG for the Melbourne derby, which starts in an earlier timeslot of 6.05pm.

The Renegades come into the game having won just one of their four matches and are in desperate need of a victory to keep their season alive.

But they will need to combat a bowling attack that contains Pakistan star Haris Rauf, England’s Tom Curran and the evergreen Siddle, who have all taken 10 wickets each this season.

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