Sidebottom played his first Test match in 2001 against Pakistan, but failed to take a wicket and was dropped for six years.

He went on to become a prolific bowler for England over the next two years, though injuries saw him lose his place in the Test side in 2009.

He retired from international duty on 20 September 2010,[4] after playing 22 Tests for England and winning the 2010 ICC World Twenty20.

Injury problems took away much of his 2000 season, but, during the winter, Sidebottom toured the West Indies with England A, taking 16 wickets at a bowling average of 16.81.

[9] On 22 February 2017, Sidebottom announced that he would be retiring from first-class cricket in all formats, commencing at the end of the 2017 County Championship.

[10] In 2019, Sidebottom appeared on the eleventh series of Dancing on Ice alongside professional skater Brandee Malto.

His first Test victim was Chris Gayle, trapped leg before wicket, and Daren Ganga, Dwayne Bravo and Corey Collymore soon followed, as he finished with figures of 4–42.

[15] In the third Test, Sidebottom contributed a useful 23 over the two innings and finished with match figures of 3–101 as England won by 60 runs.

[16] In the final match of the series, he took his first international five wicket haul during the West Indies' first innings, finishing with 5–88, hit an unbeaten 26 in England's reply, and then bowled fifteen overs for 40 runs, with no reward, as the hosts won by 7 wickets and wrapped up a 3–0 series victory.

However, he was deemed extremely unlucky only to finish with one wicket as he found copious amounts of swing and troubled a number of batsmen.

[20] In the final Test of the summer, and the third of the series against India, Sidebottom bowled a controlled 32 overs for 93 runs, taking the wicket of Dinesh Karthik as the visitors amassed 664.

[23] In the first Test match, Sidebottom started the first day the pick of the England bowlers, taking two wickets.

[29] On 25 June, he was involved in a controversial incident, colliding with New Zealand batsman Elliot in a 50 over match.

On the subject of his time with the England team, Sidebottom said "If I look back on my international career I have achieved more than I could ever have dreamed.