Siddle ruled out of 2nd SA Test in Hobart

Hobart - Australia fast bowler Peter Siddle has been ruled out of the second Test against South Africa due to injury, leaving Joe Mennie in line to make his debut in Hobart.

Siddle complained of lower back pain after the first Test defeat in Perth, and the news comes as a big blow to him and the side as this was his first Test back from a previous injury.

As such, Joe Mennie, who was picked ahead of Jackson Bird to much surprise, is set to make his debut. He also made his ODI debut against the Proteas recently, and did not have an enjoyable time of it.

Team physiotherapist David Beakley said on the CA website: "Peter Siddle had some lower back soreness at the conclusion of the first Test Match in Perth.

"Whilst we expect bowlers to be sore after Test matches, this was slightly worse than we expected and given that he was returning from a significant back injury, we organised some scans today.

"The scans demonstrated some low grade bone oedema around his old stress fracture that is likely to be a flare up of his previous lower back injury.

"We are hopeful that this will resolve relatively quickly, but have withdrawn him from the squad for the second Test Match in Hobart.

"We will monitor his recovery and have a better idea of when he will return to play in the next week or so."

This is the second injury blow for the Aussies post-Perth, who also lost opener Shaun Marsh for the series, after he rebroke his recently healed finger.