ESSEX have announced Peter Siddle will miss the rest of the county season after returning home to Australia for “personal reasons”.

The former Australia seamer, 36, has taken 20 wickets in six LV= Insurance County Championship matches at an average of 24.4 this year and was recently awarded his county cap.

“I’m sad to be leaving Chelmsford early as I love playing for Essex,” said Siddle, who took 221 wickets in 67 Tests at 30.66 for Australia between October 2008 and September 2019.

“I’ve built some really strong bonds with the guys, so it’s upsetting that I have to go home, but hopefully in the future I can come back and play some more cricket for this great club.

“I know I’m getting to the back end of my career, but I’ve still got some playing time left.

“We’ll see what happens in the coming months and in the build-up to the 2022 season, but fingers crossed there’s still a little bit more cricket to be played for Essex.”