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The value of Chris Rogers’ dour efforts was again highlighted last night as Australia’s top order crumbled against the West Indies in the second Test in Jamaica.
The tourists were 3-22 in the 11th over before Michael Clarke was handed a reprieve by a no ball from Kemar Roach.
The West Indian firebrand had pouched the most elementary of return catches after Clarke aimed an ungainly leg-side flick at a delivery which stopped in the tacky surface.
It was a gargantuan let off for Australia. At the time, the Dukes ball was hooping through the air, deviating off the seam and, on occasion, leaping alarmingly from a good length.
Jerome Taylor was amid a phenomenal spell of five overs, five maidens, 2-0. First drop Steve Smith was scratching around at the crease like an old chook.
Had Clarke departed at this juncture the Windies may well have managed to roll on into the Australian lower order by lunch.
This may seem alarmist in retrospect but, for those who were watching live, it appeared to be a distinct possibility.
Certainly, if not for Roach’s foot folly, Australia could easily have found themselves in similar treacherous territory as they lurched into in the first Test.
At Roseau, a familiar pattern was followed as Australia’s top seven faltered, leaving the side in a cricketing crevasse at 6-126.
The boys in baggy greens are fortunate that they have a lower order capable of carrying out successful rearguard actions in such circumstances. They have done so with great frequency over the past three years.
While it is highly valuable to have such a capable lower order, becoming reliant upon them to any degree is fraught with obvious risk.
Against weak sides like the West Indies, Australia may not be punished for the failings of their top seven.
The story would likely be very different though in the upcoming Ashes against a more talented side which revels in home conditions.
If England are to regain the Ashes, it will be on the back of incisive efforts from their pacemen, in particular veterans James Anderson and Stuart Broad.
It was their ability to carve through Australia’s top seven in the last Ashes in England which erased the admirable efforts of the Aussie attack.
Both Anderson and Broad, especially the former, are more comfortable and more potent with the Dukes ball.
They will fancy that they can blast holes in Australia with the new pill as they did regularly in the past two series.
There is no Australian batsman better equipped to quell the influence of that pair than the vastly experienced Rogers, who has missed this current series due to concussion.
The left hander has played far more cricket in English conditions than any other member of the Australian side.
He’s also passed fifty in his past six Test innings. And, most pertinently, he has a magnificent record against Anderson and Broad.
In the 2013 Ashes, Rogers fell six times to off spinner Graeme Swann. But he dominated the English quicks, scoring 272 runs from them at an average of 90.
The English pacemen tried all manner of tactics to try to unsettle Rogers but none bore fruit.
In true old-school opener style, Rogers has the ability to soak up the best a paceman can hurl at him.
He is happy to weather these torrid spells, looking ungainly in the process. His lack of ego and infinite patience facilitates this.
Once the clouds part, so to speak, he is primed to exploit his hard yakka. Rogers would have been the perfect player to try to halt the momentum of the Windies in the first hour last night.
His replacement Shaun Marsh failed again and is watching his Ashes dream slip through his grasp.
Cavalier opener David Warner undoubtedly will be relieved to see the return of Rogers, who has been a steadying influence throughout the period in which his career has progressed at a frenetic rate.
The value of Rogers is not to be underestimated.