Fast bowler Peter Siddle returns to Nottinghamshire having played for the club in 2014 and appearing for Lancashire last season.


By Agencies/London


Nottinghamshire have signed the Australia bowler Peter Siddle on a two-year contract.  The 30-year-old returns to the County Championship Division One side, having taken 37 wickets for them in the competition in 2014.
He added 18 in an abbreviated spell in Division Two with Lancashire last season before linking up with Australia’s Ashes squad, and will be available to Nottinghamshire in first-class and 50-over cricket during his new deal.
Siddle said: “I really enjoyed my time at Trent Bridge in 2014 and I can’t wait to come back. Notts have had a strong batting line-up for a long time and with some young bowlers also coming through, I’m excited by the way the squad is shaping up ahead of the new season.”
The director of cricket, Mick Newell, said: “Peter brings high-quality quick bowling and is a good fellow who fits in well with the team. He will provide leadership to our young bowling attack. He’s very much suited to English conditions and we’re certainly hoping to get the best out of him for the next couple of seasons.”
Harry Gurney, Jake Ball and Luke Wood all took 30 or more wickets in the championship last season, while Luke Fletcher will look to work his way back in after a spell on loan at Surrey to build his fitness.
Siddle has taken 198 wickets in 57 Tests at an average of 29.87, including match figures of six for 67 in this summer’s final Ashes Test at The Oval.

Sydney Ground faces urgent
resurfacing before second Test
The Sydney Cricket Ground is expected to undergo urgent resurfacing ahead of the New Year’s Test following the embarrassing abandonment of the NSW v Victoria Sheffield Shield match.
Cricket NSW CEO Andrew Jones said on Monday he had been advised the SCG Trust, which administers the ground, intends to resurface the problem playing area. “The informal advice is that it looks like they are planning to do that as soon as possible,” said Jones.
The NSW team has been hard hit due to the issues at the ground, with Cricket Australia on Monday awarding all six points from the Shield match to Victoria after the game was called off by the match referee due to concerns for player safety.
The Blues’ next shield match, against Tasmania starting on Saturday, was switched on Monday from the SCG to Bankstown Oval, with NSW Cricket saying they could not afford to risk forfeiting more competition points.
However, Cricket Australia insisted it was confident the SCG would be fit and ready to host the Australian team’s New Year’s Test against the West Indies starting on 3 January.
“The Sydney Test is two months away. We have every confidence they will get the playing surface right for that match,” said CA head of cricket operations Sean Cary. “We will have to make some checks on it between now and then and we are very hopeful they will get it right.”
The NSW v Victoria match was called off on day three on Sunday because of concerns by the match referee and umpires about the safety of the playing surface. It came after four Victorian fielders had slipped on the in-field/wicket square area in the space of eight balls late on a rain-affected day two and Bushrangers coach David Saker described the conditions as not up to first-class standards.
The SCG Trust insisted on Sunday the ground was safe and there was no need to abandon the match. But a CA review on Monday supported the abandonment.
Cary said in a statement: “I have looked into the matter here today and believe that we have no other option under the Cricket Australia playing conditions, other than to award the six points to Victoria.
“It’s an unfortunate outcome for NSW to lose points in this manner, and we acknowledge the disappointment the team is facing, however the decision the match officials made was not taken lightly. Abandoning a match is the last resort for any match official and was only done after due consideration for player safety.”
He cited the Sheffield Shield playing conditions Law 7.2 – “In the event of a match being abandoned because of inadequate pitch and/or ground preparation, the match will be awarded to the visiting team.”
The SCG is due to host one other Shield clash, against Queensland starting on 26 November, but Jones could not guarantee that it would not also be moved away.