Chris Rogers - The cricketer who deserved more than what he got

Mr. Reliable

Rogers stood up to hostile fast bowling, cream covering his lips, elbow pointed dead straight down the track, rock steady at the top of the order.

He became famous for his consistency. Beginning with the Brisbane Test against India in December 2014, he racked up six consecutive fifties. There was a 10 in the first Ashes 2015 Test match at Cardiff, but it was followed by another half century.

He came agonisingly close once again. Batting on 49 at Lord’s, Rogers was forced to retire hurt after being struck on the head, after fears of a concussion he had sustained beforehand. No matter, as he responded with a career-best 173 in the second innings.

A good haul – and Sydney

For the statistically minded, Chris Rogers retires with, spookily, a total of 2015 Test runs at an average of 42.87. He played 25 Test matches and scored five hundreds. These were matched by 14 fifties. Not only that, Rogers broke the record for most consecutive innings without a duck.

He may very well have gone a whole career duck-free, but the only one came during a horrendous first innings batting performance by Australia at Trent Bridge. That’s it. Just the one.

For a batsman who waited 15 years for his chance, it was fitting that the defining moment of Rogers’ Australia career came with much deserved poetic justice.

With Australia already 4-0 up and The Ashes regained, Chris Rogers scored an absolutely magnificent 119 in his home ground at the SCG in the new year of 2014. England were then summarily crushed, and a glorious performance capped a historic 5-0 series whitewash.

Rogers, on his way to a sublime 119 against England in Sydney in early 2014.

He was on top of the world.

Rogers was one of the best batsmen in the international game for the short period that he was there. People remember the big performances. You need as many of those as possible. For instance, Michael Vaughan’s reputation was only cemented after 633 runs in the 2002-03 Ashes.

From a different era, but very much in the now

Rogers did that, but he is an unassuming sort who would rather get on with the task at hand. He’s just not the kind who commands a lot of notoriety. He is almost perfectly represented by his battered old arm guard.

It is an absurd idea when you think about it. Chris Rogers, stealing headlines or making controversial statements. And yet, when he bats he manipulates time. He does not look like a poor Waugh imitation in an era of HotSpot and Snicko. He looks completely the boss of the bowler.

Instead, you are transported back in time. Suddenly, it’s 1989 again, and Rain Man is all the rage across the world, Tiananmen Square is rioting, Seinfeld premiered and Steffi Graf and Boris Becker are dominating Wimbledon.

His batting is from a time when the Cold War is ending, but Chris Rogers is very much anchored in 2015. His feet are still here. The rest of him is also here. His bat is still here. And the ball is elegantly struck through the covers.

Heroes don’t look like Chris Rogers very often. They simply don’t. He isn’t ‘cool’. But he performed. And that’s something that can’t be said for a host of others. In our eyes, that makes him a hero.

Some players work very hard for very long to get a shot at glory. Some have the misfortune of playing domestic cricket for years with nothing to show for it.

Others, like Christopher Rogers, do not.