Kingpin Sidebottom Hails County Cricket
Sidebottom - 18 scalps in two Tests.
Ryan Sidebottom continued his role as standard-bearer for the benefits of county cricket with another five-wicket haul to seal England's comfortable 126-runs second Test triumph over New Zealand.
The 30-year-old Nottinghamshire left-arm seamer has only been a regular member of England's Test side for 10 months, but in that short space of time he has already established himself as the senior member of the bowling attack.
He is the man captain Michael Vaughan nearly always turns to when he needs a wicket, he is the also thrown the ball when he needs control and he is the man who takes the new ball when it is at its most potent.
That was underlined on the final day at the Basin Reserve with Sidebottom opening the bowling and claiming the two early wickets which effectively broke New Zealand's resistance and ensured England will turn up in Napier for the final Test with the series still at stake.
Sidebottom finished with five for 105 to take his tally in the last two Tests to 16 wickets, while he has taken 45 wickets since being recalled to England's line-up by newly-installed coach Peter Moores for the second Test against West Indies at Headingley last May.
His efforts ensured that New Zealand, chasing an unlikely victory target of 438, were dismissed for 311 despite a defiant 85 from hard-hitting wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum with Sidebottom claiming the key wickets of Daniel Vettori and Kyle Mills inside the first eight overs of the day.
It is testament to his enduring ability to trouble even high class batsman having been discarded after only one wicket-less Test in 2001 by former coach Duncan Fletcher.
"After the Test match I played in 2001 I went back to county cricket I worked hard at my action and what I could change," said Sidebottom. "I worked hard with my bowling coach Steve Oldham, worked really hard with doing drills.
"I could swing the ball when I was younger but I'd also have days when I just pushed it across and it always helps if you can swing the ball because batsmen don't know if it's going to carry on its course or swing."
Sidebottom made the first breakthrough off the 12th ball of the day with captain Vettori driving to Alastair Cook at third slip to give the tourists an early boost.
He followed that with a classic delivery to the right hander, swinging the ball into Mills' pads and giving umpire Rudi Koertzen an easy decision to uphold the appeal for lbw.
Jimmy Anderson overcame his troublesome left ankle to induce Mark Gillespie into an edge behind and McCullum's three hours of defiance ended when Sidebottom, fittingly, took the catch at long-on off left-arm spinner Monty Panesar to end the match.
Once again, though, it had been Sidebottom who had given them the impetus to finish off the match, using tried and tested techniques honed in the much-maligned county game for Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.
"By bowling day in and day out I know my own game and I've not really changed much - I just bowl how I do in county cricket," explained Sidebottom. "I've learned off guys like Mark Ealham and Greg Smith and Stephen Fleming and it's just great to playing international cricket.
"You always go into games wondering how you're going to go, particularly after I'd not played for so long, but I've not really changed anything - I've just bowled how I have done over the last two or three years."
Once again watched by his father Arnie, the former Yorkshire and England seamer, Sidebottom is likely to be a fixture for some time yet given the high regard he is held by current coach Moores and captain Vaughan.
"I guess he's getting all the rewards now for all the hard work he's put in over the years and hopefully that will continue for a long, long while and he can have a really good, sustained international career," said Vaughan.
"He's only played 12 Tests and he's our most experienced bowler. I guess it proves that bowling all those overs in the county game, really knowing his game before he played at international level can help."
"He never needs telling, he always knows what's required in the situation which is very handy for a captain."
As both Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison can testify, reaching 30 can be a milestone too far for an international bowler as they discovered for this Test after they were ruthlessly dropped to make way for younger blood in Anderson and Stuart Broad.
But Sidebottom has no intention of giving his place away lightly having fought for so long to reclaim it, adding: "I'm 30 now and I still feel as if I've got quite a few years left if I keep fit and keep myself strong.
"There are a lot of young guys coming through who want to play as long as possible so I'm trying to make the most of this opportunity while I can. If I keep taking wickets there's no reason why I can't continue playing for a while yet."