Peter Siddle, in England to take up a season-long overseas contract with Nottinghamshire, has admitted he is "pretty glad" England have dropped Kevin Pietersen from their side.
Siddle, the Australia seamer, has claimed Pietersen's wicket 10 times in Test cricket, but he still regards him as "a challenging player" to bowl against.
"Personally, I'm pretty glad he's not playing any more," Siddle said. "I always loved bowling against him. He is a challenging player to play against."
But while Siddle remains respectful of Pietersen's talent, he conceded he had enjoyed success against the batsman by playing to his ego in the most recent Ashes series in Australia.
"I did [play to his ego]," Siddle said. "I just bored him. It is the most boring way I've bowled to any player. I knew where he wanted to score and knew how he would do it, so I tried boring him as much as I could and had a lot of success doing it."
Siddle might logically expect to have seen the last of Pietersen in an England shirt, but he does expect Jonathan Trott to return to the international side. Trott left the Ashes tour after the Brisbane Test suffering from burnout but, Siddle backed the batsman to return before too long.
"I wouldn't be surprised at all if Trott came back," Siddle said. "He's a very good player and he has had a lot of success against us. It has always been hard work. I wish him all the best."
While it has become rare for established Test seamers to appear for long stints in county cricket, Siddle is keen to experience life on the county circuit and has been given no restriction on his workload by Cricket Australia.
"It's great opportunity," he said. "I love the country and, after talking to guys like David Hussey and Simon Katich about their experiences of playing county cricket, I knew it was something I wanted to experience.
"I had a chat with David Saker, the England bowling coach, during last summer's Ashes series and he put in a word for me. I didn't talk to any clubs other than Nottinghamshire.
"The IPL has never been a big thing for me and India, sometimes, isn't a place you want to be. My goal has always been to play as many Tests as I could and I bowl at my best when I play continuous cricket. By playing for Nottinghamshire, I'll stay match fit."
And with another Ashes series to be played in England in 2015, the experience Siddle will gain of English conditions will also do him no harm.
Siddle 'glad' to see back of Pietersen
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Siddle 'glad' to see back of Pietersen
