The Middlesex captain and opener stakes a claim for an Ashes place with fine performance.
Ahead of the Ashes series in England in July, Middlesex’s Australian opener Chris Rogers has sent a message to the selectors with a match-saving double ton in the County Championship.
The club captain returned to the crease for the county’s second innings after their modest 166 in the first was not enough to avoid the follow-on.
Yet Rogers batted like a man who wanted to be noticed and scored a brilliant 214 to lead his side to declare on 514-8.
The skipper’s knock saved Middlesex from a potentially damaging defeat against London rivals Surrey and also gave the Aussie selectors something to think about ahead of the Ashes.
The 35-year-old has been included in the 16-man squad for Australia’s challenge for the urn this summer, after playing his one solitary Test match way back in 2008.
With the nation struggling to find any form in the top-order in recent times there is certainly an opportunity for players like Rogers to stake a claim for a place in the starting XI.
On Australia’s recent disastrous tour of India – a series they were whitewashed 4-0 in – national captain Michael Clarke was the only man to make a century and he is also the only batsman to have an average of over 40.
There are doubts over the abilities of players like David Warner, Ed Cowan and even Shane Watson in Test matches and Rogers could be a shrewd choice to fit in at the top of the order.
In first-class cricket the Middlesex leader has scored nearly 20,000 runs and holds an average of over 50.
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