Australian opening batsman Chris Rogers has confirmed that he will retire from international cricket at the end of the 5th Ashes Test at the Oval. While his Australia career was brief (he will end up with just 25 Test caps), it has been a fitting reward for a remarkable first-class cricketer whose experience and skill have performed a valuable role for Australia during a tough transition period.
Among all active players, only the West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul (24,693) has scored more runs in red-ball cricket than Rogers (23,384). In a way, there are similarities between the two: both place an inordinately high value upon their wicket, are unfazed by the nonsensical rhetoric of ‘positive cricket’, and churn out runs in all conditions no matter what their teammates or the conditions are doing.
Rogers was part of the famous ‘lost generation’ of Australian batsmen whose cricketing prime was dominated by the unstoppable (and undroppable) opening pair of Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden. He was added to the Australia squad in 2008 as cover for Hayden, and played the Perth Test against India with the men in baggy greens on a record 16-match winning streak. The opener he was replacing had been in red-hot form, and Australia were 2-0 up in the series.
Rogers only scored 19 runs in the match, Australia lost, Hayden returned and scored 103 in a drawn final Test. Rogers was already being pencilled in as a one-Test wonder. Other lost generation openers such as Phil Jacques and Simon Katich took his place in the pecking order, and when Hayden went in 2009, the younger generation in the shape of the late Phillip Hughes was called to the crease.
Meanwhile, Rogers was scoring runs. He has played county cricket in England for four different sides (Middlesex, Derbyshire, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire) and averages over 50 for each one in first-class cricket. His highest score for Leicestershire was a brutal 219-ball 209, which he scored against the 2005 Australia side in a tour game. Between 2004 and 2013, Rogers served a long apprenticeship in the County Championship and the Sheffield Shield which would eventually garner the coveted prize: a Test spot.
Australia struggled to replace their great side, and although the Warner-Cowan combination looked promising, Cowan never nailed his spot down. When the 2013 Ashes came around, Rogers’ place in the XI for the first Test was assured in a Birmingham bar, as David Warner punched himself out of contention. Rogers made a solid 52 in Australia’s close run-chase, and by the time Warner was back at the top of the order, it was Watson who was shuffled down, not Rogers who was dropped.
Chris Rogers made his first Test century in the thrilling fourth Test match at Durham, and then hit two more centuries in the 5-0 whitewash in Australia to secure his place as the highest scorer from either team across both Ashes series.
Because of Rogers’ age, the question marks over his place were never far away. He scored just 10 runs in his first three innings against South Africa, and it seemed like his fairytale finish was going to be a 20-minute TV slot rather than a feature film. His second-innings 107 (the third-highest contribution to Australia’s dismal 216 was just six runs) earned him another series, though.
Two lean Tests against Pakistan in the UAE and India at home led to more murmurings, but Rogers defied his doubters once again with a record-equalling run of seven 50+ scores, which included two 95s and ended only at Cardiff with a 10. He followed it up with a punishing 173 at Lord’s, no doubt his favourite English ground, and scored half-centuries in the Edgbaston and Trent Bridge defeats.
Rogers missed the West Indies away Tests due to concussion, after being hit on the head in the nets. He suffered further ill-effects at Lord’s from a James Anderson bouncer, and he retired hurt in the second innings. He nevertheless went on to field at short leg in the very next Test.
Not many cricketers get to retire on their own terms, and although Rogers would no doubt prefer to bow out with an Ashes victory, into each life a little rain must fall, and his own personal form is unquestionable. He has more runs in the present Ashes than any of his Australia colleagues and at a much higher average (he has only six runs fewer than England’s highest run-scorer Joe Root). While former number-one batsman Steve Smith, Australian great Michael Clarke and bullish opener David Warner have looked dumbfounded by seam and swing movement, Rogers has battled away, adapting to the conditions and churning out runs as best he can. It is a legacy his colleagues should look to emulate in their future Test matches.
The true value of Chris Rogers’ admirable but anachronistic qualities as a batsman may not be truly known until he is gone. The Australia selectors must now cast about for a replacement, and although there is talent around – Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja and Joe “the new Bradman” Burns have all been touted as potential candidates – they cannot call upon anyone with as much grit and experience as Rogers. He is a batsman for all seasons, situations and surfaces – while he still has not retired from professional cricket, it is no wonder that there are already rumours that Australia wish to secure his services as a coach.
