MELBOURNE, Dec 5: Australia paceman Peter Siddle has hit back at criticism of his omission for the third and final Test against South Africa, saying his participation would have risked a long-term injury that might have ultimately hurt his side more.

Siddle took six wickets at Adelaide and emerged unscathed after he carried a huge workload in the absence of injured seamer James Pattinson, but had only three days to recover in time for the final Test at the WACA Ground.

“Obviously I wanted to be out there and doing my best to try and win that game, but after going through what I did in Adelaide, knowing that if I had been the one that got injured ... it would have put us out of the game by a long way,” the 28-year-old told Wednesday’s Fairfax newspapers.

“I think we made the right decision. Instead of missing that one match, it could end up being seven matches, including India.”—Reuters