PETER SIDDLE has bristled at criticism from Dennis Lillee and described the decision to withdraw him from the deciding Perth Test as ''the right thing to do''.

Siddle said he played a part in the agonising call to rest from the series decider against South Africa after his workload in Adelaide left him with a tight hamstring.

"I'm not angry about what went on ... It was a group decision" ... Peter Siddle. Credit:Getty Images

Setting aside his personal disappointment at missing the play-off for the No.1 ranking, and Ricky Ponting's farewell, the Victorian fast bowler said his risk of breaking down during the match, as James Pattinson did in Adelaide, was too great.

''We didn't need a repeat of that in such an important game. Common sense came through in the end. It was just the right thing to do. Obviously I wanted to be out there playing … but after going through what I did in Adelaide, knowing that if I had been the one that got injured … it would have put us out of the game a long way. I think we made the right decision. We didn't win and that's sad, but personally there's still a lot of games for Australia to be won,'' Siddle said.