Australia’s Peter Siddle at receiving end of South African fans

Rookie Australian Test paceman at the receiving end of South African fans

Australia's Peter Siddle at receiving end of South African fans

Rookie Australian Test paceman at the receiving end of South African fans

The antagonistic reception given to Harbhajan Singh by Australian fans during the Indian team's acrimonious tour of Australia last year was a Boy Scouts' picnic compared to the roasting given by South African fans to temperamental Australian pace bowler Peter Siddle in the first Test at Johannesburg on Monday.

Chants of "Siddle's a w....." rent the Wanderers' Stadium for almost three hours after Australia completed a comprehensive 162-run over the Proteas, when Ricky Ponting's men emerged from the dressing-room to continue their celebrations on the ground with a full-throated rendition of "Under the Southern Cross I Stand", the team song.

The song (led by custodian Michael Hussey this time) is usually sung in the dressing-room after several hours of beer-drinking.

Although rambunctious, the tourists' on-field celebrations paled into insignificance compared to the fans' expression of disgust over Siddle's barrage of bouncers at the home team's batsmen, notably fast bowler Dale Steyn.

Delighted: Australian's Peter Siddle celebrates a dismissal on the final day of the first Test match against South Africa at Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg on Monday. Pic/AFP

Antics
Incensed at the firebrand bowler's menacing antics, the hostile crowd at the stadium, famously known as the "bullring", picked up the refrain every time Siddle fielded the ball.

According to a touring Australian correspondent, a child of about three, hoisted on his father's shoulders,u00a0 joined in the chorus "like it was a nursery rhyme" and a local newspaper has been referring to Siddle's "man boobs".

The jeering reportedly reached a crescendo on the fourth day when Siddle bowled three bouncers to Hashim Amla, resulting in the second bouncer being adjudged a no-ball wide and a no-ball for excessive short deliveries for the third. Umpire Billy Bowden apparently issued the bowler a warning via skipper Ponting.

Peter Siddle dismissed the crowd's behaviour as of no avail.

"We were just out there as a team and I was just trying to get the wicket," he said. "The crowd got worked up and they enjoyed it. It doesn't really worry me.

"It's fine. There's plenty more grounds around where I'm going to get heckled.

""It's my first time here. They enjoy their cricket and they enjoy getting into everyone.

"It's going to happen. The Australian crowds definitely do it to opposition teams so you expect that when you go overseas."

As regards his bouncers to bowler Dale Steyn, Siddle said: "It's part of Test cricket isn't it? Everyone is going to cop it one day.

"It's certainly going to happen to me. There's plenty more times I'm going to get bounced out there so I don't think I have to worry about him (Steyn)."

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