No beanie packed for Siddle's career-first

Peter Siddle is heading back to the United Kingdom for a career first and the former Test quick is grateful he won't need a beanie to bowl in this time around.

Siddle has had his stint with Essex extended for the back-end of the UK season after claiming 20 wickets in the reigning champions' first four matches of the County Championship season, before making way for New Zealand international Neil Wagner.

While he was typically probing in the early-season matches, it was the Victorian's unusual choice of headwear on a near-freezing cold morning in Southampton that made headlines.

"It was bloody cold over there," Siddle told cricket.com.au. "I don't think it got over 10 degrees for the whole month.

"We were down in Hampshire and it was a freezing cold morning. The umpires came over on the morning and gave the green light that both teams could wear the beanies out on the field.

"Between both teams, there were about 17 blokes with beanies on. I had one on and I'm not best at cold weather.

"We walked out at 11am and the temperature gauge read one degree. I had three shirts on and the jumper and the beanie.

"I thought it'd only last a couple of balls and then once I'd warmed up I'd take it off. It ended up staying on for the whole six-over spell I bowled."

Siddle returned home to Melbourne following his initial spell with Essex but will fly back to the UK in August for eight T20 matches as well as three more first-class games.

His recruitment for the T20 Blast tournament, alongside fellow Australian Adam Zampa, reflects his markedly improved effectiveness in the shortest format, which Siddle puts down to spending an entire KFC Big Bash League season working on new skills.

Those developments saw the right-armer, who has represented Australia just twice in T20 cricket and 17 times in ODIs, form an integral part of the title-winning Adelaide Strikers side.

Having for so long focused his energy on his bowling for Test cricket, Siddle's upcoming stint abroad will be first in an overseas T20 league.

"I'd never played a full season of the Big Bash, I'd only ever played games here and there," he explained.

"I'd played a bit of it for Victoria before there was all the T20 hype and it wasn't as big as it is now. I'd done okay but there wasn't as much emphasis on the skills.

"It was nice to get through last season's Big Bash and trial a few new tricks, come up with a few and succeed in the heat of the battle.

"I've always wanted to play overseas and try different things with T20 but concentrating on Test cricket has been a bit restrictive. Hopefully I can go out there and take off where I finished in the BBL last year and see where it takes me."

Siddle nonetheless brushed off a suggestion he could be in the mix to return to Australia's T20 side, though he has been in contact with new national coach Justin Langer with whom he shares a strong rapport.

He last played for Australia in the opening Test of the 2016-17 summer against South Africa and his most likely route back into the national setup would appear to be with red ball in hand.

Not that Siddle is fretting about a potential comeback.

The 33-year-old admits he too often became preoccupied with adding to his 62 Test caps over an injury-plagued couple of years.

His successful 2017-18 season, the biggest of his career in terms of games played, has helped fix that. Last summer saw him play all but one of Victoria's 17 four- and one-day matches, yielded his maiden BBL crown while he also played in his third Victorian Premier Cricket premiership with Dandenong.

That's not to say he hasn't given up hope of pulling on the Baggy Green again.

"When you're out injured for a long time, you lose the feel of playing and having that success as a team and as a player," Siddle explained. "You lose the excitement of getting out and playing because you're out of the game for so long.

"I was probably too focused on getting the body right and needing to be right to play Test cricket. I was concentrating so much on it that it all seemed like hard work with no end result. I was pushing too hard.

"Last year… whatever team I played for, whether it was club cricket at the end of the year, whatever opportunity I had to get out and play, I just made the most of it.

"Enjoying the game will be more beneficial for me and the team than being too focused on that sole thing of playing for Australia again.

"That is the end goal but for now, with any team I play for – Essex, Dandenong, Victoria – I've just got to go out and perform."