Cricket Australia today confirmed that Chris ‘Buck’ Rogers and his famous arm-guard (let’s call it Twiki) will retire from international cricket after the Oval Test. I’m sure we’d all like to congratulate him on an excellent career.
Rogers obviously had a strange career because he played 23 or his 24 tests after the age of 35. A combination of bad fortune and lack of opportunities really held him back.
He was dropped unceremoniously after making just 19 runs on his debut at the WACA against India in 2008. His opening partner in that match, Phil Jacques, played another four matches. I think most people regard Rogers as the more accomplished batsman of the two, so it strikes me as a little odd.
After coming back into test cricket in 2013, Rogers proved a lot of people wrong. A lot of us thought it smacked of Australian desperation at the time, but he defied his ‘old man Rogers’ tag and became a very consistent performer.
His test career stacks up pretty well. He scored 1972 runs at 43 with 5 hundreds and 14 fifties. That’s 82 runs per test. To put things in comparison, Alastair Cook has scored 9223 runs in 118 tests, which works out at 78 runs per test.
If Chris Rogers had played 118 tests like Cook, one assumes Rogers would have scored 9691 runs and made 24 hundreds and nearly 70 fifties (that’s three fewer tons than Cook but about 25 more fifties!)
That’s pretty good going. In fact, one could argue Rogers would’ve scored significantly more than this, as he never really played test cricket at the peak of his powers. How peculiar that Rogers has never enjoyed the same adulation.
Consequently, I think Rogers can consider himself extremely unlucky. If Matt Hayden or Justin Langer had retired early – in the same way that Marcus Trescothick’s premature retirement opened the door for Cook – then Rogers might have become one of the most durable and successful Australian openers of all time.
Rogers was also a really good bloke. He made friends wherever he went, became a highly respected stalwart of the county circuit, and always spoke honestly to the media. What a refreshing change from today’s media trained cricketers who reveal very little of interest in interviews.
I also have a soft spot for Rogers because he’s red-green colourblind like myself. Ian Botham also had the same problem. I’d find it impossible to pick up a red ball coming out of the Lord’s pavilion at 90mph.
The sight-screens at HQ aren’t exactly the best, but Rogers scored a mountain of runs for both Australia and Middlesex at the home of cricket. It’s some achievement. In a way, I’m surprised that he never played a single ODI. The white ball is a hundred times easier to see than the red one if you suffer from colourblindness.
Anyway. I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of Rogers on these shores. He won’t play for Australia again, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some lucky county snaps him up.
Godspeed Bucky! Say hi to Erin Gray for me.
James Morgan
@thefulltoss
Trent Bridge was his first duck in Test cricket !
I think I’d probably struggle to pick a red ball coming at me at 90 mph and I have perfect eye sight !
A very eloquent and thoughtful farewell. Hope Rodgers keeps involved with the game.
A very nice tribute James but what is it with you and Alistair Cook?! Let him go, set yourself free. You’ll feel much better. :)
I agree. Not everything need involve Cook.
Nice article, apart from some of the use of “was” rather than “is” make it sound like he’s died! I think Rogers is a good example of why it’s worth sticking with a player while they work out how to bridge the gap between grade/county cricket, and Test cricket. I remember in the last Ashes series in England there were a lot of “experts” in the media saying he wasn’t good enough, because he had a few failures. Plenty were saying he should be dropped after a couple of low scores in the 2nd Test. But he scrapped away, worked out how to adapt his game, and made it through. A great story of perseverence. I hope England do the same with Adam Lyth and give him a chance in the winter, having failed to do so in the WI due to the stupid Trott experiment.
I thought his arm guard was called Wilma….
It is a bit sad they didn’t stick with him 7 years ago, but who knows he might not have got the same level of experience and done so well when he came into the team. Dropping a batsman after a single test is always ridiculous. There is always an element of luck in any innings and 1 outing is far too short to make a decision on someone.
I also am RG colourblind so I have a lot of respect for his performance. He had hinted previously that he would retire at the end of the Ashes and said that he really struggled with the pink balls they are going to use for the day night test and that was part of his decision. Will be a bit sad if that pushes other colourblind people out of the game.
I completely agree. I’m looking forward to playing with a pink ball myself one day. I imagine it will be more difficult to see than the white ball, but less difficult than the red. But who knows?!
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