Siddle, who was playing his first Test since January after recovering from a stress fracture in his back, changed the complexion of the opening day of the first Test as he ripped out Alastair Cook, Matt Prior and Stuart Broad in successive balls shortly before the drinks break in the final session.
Six wickets for 54 runs, his best return in Test cricket, was quite a statement by a bustling fast bowler who was a controversial selection for The Gabba. He was chosen ahead of Doug Bollinger, who is in the top 10 in the Test rankings, but whose ambitions to play in his first Ashes Test went unanswered because of lack of match fitness.
Australia's selectors, under fire for the past year, will briefly have an air of wisdom about them after Siddle took the first Ashes hat-trick since Darren Gough achieved the feat for England in Sydney 11 years ago. No Australian had managed it since Shane Warne in 1994.
And Siddle, who was celebrating his 26th birthday, was delighted at Australia's strong start. "It's obviously good to wake up to your birthday in the morning and obviously to have that happen has been amazing, and hopefully the start of a good Ashes for us," he said. "The plan was pretty similar all day, to pitch it up, make them play, be patient and consistent with those lines.
"I got Cook and Prior with two balls like that and I think the third was a bit of adrenaline from the crowd, I bowled it fast. It didn't really come off as the ball I wanted but I got him so there's nothing more I could ask for."
Siddle was a touch concerned his hat-trick could have been spoiled when Broad referred his hat-trick wicket upstairs. "A little bit," he admitted. "I knew it was most likely in line so I was happy with it."
Siddle will never host his own chat show like Warne, or win Celebrity Come Dancing like Gough, but at least they will now be singing the praises far beyond his native Victoria of the man that the Australian tabloids like to call "Sid Vicious."
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