ONE year ago, when Peter Siddle was dropped after the Adelaide Test, it seemed almost unthinkable that he would make it to 200 Test wickets before he was put out to pasture once and for all. 
If he did manage to crawl across the line, it would be a deserved and fitting retirement gift for the honest fast bowler before young bucks Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and James Pattinson took over.
However, the outlook is suddenly a whole lot different for the 30-year-old Victorian.
Ticking off the two wickets he needs to bring up the prestigious 200-milestone, this week in Adelaide now shapes as the start of an exciting and important new chapter for Siddle rather than the postscript.
Mitchell Johnson's retirement has exposed the vulnerability of an Australian attack that, aside from Starc, has little certainty over how it will look on a game-by-game basis.
Siddle has been around for so long it's easy to forget he is in fact the same age as Peter Nevill and four years younger than the retired Johnson.
He might be experienced, but he's not over the hill, and that was perhaps the most telling lesson learned by Australia during the failed Ashes campaign.
Siddle's stunning six-wicket performance in the fifth Test at The Oval proved that bowling 140km/h should not be the only criteria for making the Australian attack.
Sitting on 198 wickets, the right-armer is on the verge of an elite club occupied by only 14 other Australian bowlers.
Siddle - a certain starter for this pink ball match - might have played just one Test since he was last in Adelaide, but according to former captain Michael Clarke, Australia's Mr Reliable should be part of the future.
"He still has plenty to give Australian cricket and his experience is more important than ever, given how young this team is going to be," Clarke has written in his 2015 Ashes Diary by Pan Macmillan."Sidds' bowled beautifully at The Oval. He had to wait a long time for his opportunity, but boy, did he take full advantage of it when he got it."