There was no raising of the arms, no fist punch, no Leyton
Hewitt like “common”, no cross of the heart, no leap for joy, not even a smile just
an acknowledgement to his peers. The
muted celebrations sum up Chris Rogers as a person and a cricketer.
Some cricketers come into fame through their stroke play,
aggression, elegance, arrogance and there are others who are just unnoticed but
hold a team together. They are not the crowd pullers or nor do they endorse
modern day cricket but they are certainly known how to score runs. Well over 20,000 first Class runs.
On most occasions the runs are nudges, deflections mixed
with an occasional elegant cover drive or an impetus pull. They can even at
times struggle to dispatch full tosses but know exactly how to wear out a
bowler, put a price on their wicket and least concerned about admirations or
sympathy. They just love playing cricket and batting for countless hours even
if that means defending over 100 balls in a day.
As Bradman once said “You need to score of the bad balls but
importantly you need to keep the good balls out as well”. Sometimes like on the Day 2 of the fourth
Test, bowlers can dish out a barrage of balls that seam, swing and bounce
constantly and it’s on such days a player like Rogers cherishes.
While a Watson and Warner would have gone to bed on Friday
evening in their youth dreaming about boundaries, players like Rogers would
have dreamt about perfect leave or a deft punch past the bowlers. They seek
equal satisfaction in a leave, so when such days as the 2nd day of
the fourth test arrive, they relish the opportunity and success normally awaits
them at the end of the day.
Ever since Katich was dropped from the opening slot,
Australian team have been desperate to find such an irritating opener for the
opposition. The great strength of such players is they complement the stroke
players because they frustrate the bowlers and in the process alter their lengths
to stroke makers.
Since there game is based around such a sound defence, they
know exactly how to build and accelerate an innings. They rarely become
stagnant once set, their stroke play is calculated. Players of such kind are
rare in modern day cricket so when they shine it is breath of fresh air.
Players such as Rogers are just addicted to playing cricket
despite their age. They love the challenge are their personalities are defined
on cricketing grounds.
Rogers might not have smiled when he got to his hundred but
a player of such nature probably grin on the inside in the nervous nineties
largely due to the fact that particular phase of play was the most enjoyable in
his test career.
It is players like Rogers that keep ‘Test’ in Test cricket
alive.
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