Chris Rogers looks nothing like an athlete. Short, red-headed, freckled, bespectacled, colour-blind, waddling to the crease smothered in protective gear and zinc cream as though an over-protective parent had just packed him off to the playground shielded from all conceivable harm.
He looks like he should wear a wristband listing his allergies. He looks like he needs as asthma puffer built into his orthotic heels. He better fits the bill as a target of schoolyard bullies than a jock immune to their harm.
He also acts nothing like an Australian batsman. A breed known for their love of dominance, for arrogance backed up by achievements, for disdain for the bowlers they face.
Think of the curled lips of Ricky Ponting as he peeled off another century, or Matthew Hayden as he puffed out his chest and ladled another trio of unfortunate seamers toward the sightscreen.
Think of players who respond to witty sledges with a flat stare and a “Who the f*** are you?” Think of the unshakeable press-conference talk that a big hundred is just around the corner.
Then there’s Rogers. He has played each innings looking like he’s borderline terrified, like he was just wandering through the Long Room when a hilarious case of mistaken identity saw him strapped up with pads and ushered to the middle, just as Homer Simpson protested that he wasn’t a pilot while being forced into an airliner cockpit.
Rogers does get airborne when he leaps at the crease to bring the ball to earth. He twitches and frets. First thing on the second day of the second Ashes Test, he flinched away from a James Anderson short ball and was hit in the neck. Next ball he squeezed awkwardly, almost desperately away to third man.
But he was resuming after having batted through the entire first day, having spent the night not out on 158. The very next over he showed how he’d go there, putting in a full stride against Stuart Broad and producing a perfect off drive for four.
The thing is, even those resounding shots hold a hint of reserve. They are Rogers digging deep within himself and yanking out the conviction to play them, forcing himself into action the way party wallflowers strike up conversations with their objects of admiration.
He has built a career over nearly 20 years without ever seeming sure of himself.
His television appearance after his 95 in the first Test at Cardiff was just as contrary to the brash Australian archetype. “I don’t really start a series well so it was nice to have a good start,” he said. “When I woke up this morning I was nervous so I would probably have taken that 95.”
Heresy! Call down the inquisitors. Australian batsmen can’t admit to nerves, or hesitation, or any kind of weakness. But this one doesn’t care. He does it anyway, and he is a very nervous man.
He was as nervous talking on the TV as he does playing on it. Under press conference lights he’s so pale and waxy that he could have been trucked across town from Madame Tussauds.
The copious zinc cream is just so you can tell where his lips are, so tightly does he purse his mouth as he faces each delivery.
Yet clearly he can channel those nerves into performances. “I’ve scored a hundred at the MCG and one at the SCG, so for me to get one at Lord’s was the trifecta.”
His experience at the ground helped immensely in his eventual score of 173. “At Lord’s if you find the gap it’ll just race off for four. Just using the pace, and those late cuts have been a shot that I’ve been playing for a long time.”
That’s the contradiction. He’s achieved these feats so often that he should have full confidence in reproducing them. He’s unequivocal about people questioning his place in the team: “I feel I can still contribute to this side, and make a difference, so that spurs me on.”
Yet every time he starts an innings, he looks less like he’s walking out to bat than walking the plank.
And now he’s walked the plank for good, ending a career that is disproportionate in how well loved he is compared to how long he was around. Twenty-five Tests over the course of two years. But a fine player he’s been: five centuries, fourteen half-centuries, and the Australian Player of the Series award for his last trip out in the baggy green.
It’s his difference that has made Rogers so endearing. That idea about him being pulled out of the crowd isn’t far off the mark. He has an everyday quality, a humility created from a lifetime of graft in first-class cricket rather than afloat in a media bubble on a sea of adulation and rage.
There could be few more popular entrants among the visiting names on the Lord’s honours board, either. When Rogers raised his century there, and again at his 150, the standing ovations from the largely English crowd were spontaneous and generous.
Perhaps by then Rogers’ nerves were gone. When he thanked England at The Oval for the hospitality over so many years, the ovation was just as warm. He must be leaving Test cricket believing more that he belonged.
The public reception isn’t just about a career with Middlesex, or Australia, the balls faced and runs scored. It acknowledges a triumph for modesty and honesty and ordinariness.
Chris Rogers should never have become an Australian Test batsman. That’s why it’s for the good of everyone – short freckled nerds and natural athletes alike – that he finally did.
A version of this article was first published on Wisden India.
Don Freo
Guest
A Nerd's 11? Bucky (Capt) Dene Hills Ed Cowan Ian Redpath Rick McCosker Graeme Porter (I taught with him...a nerd's nerd) Luke Butterworth Midget Mark Atkinson (the Tassie keeper) Peter George Michael Beer Steve Magoffin
Don Freo
Guest
He's a bit of a mover on the dance floor. Remember his moves after the last Ashes series?
Tom from Perth
Guest
You sure can write Geoff. Great stuff.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Great piece! It is kind of good that Buck has flown under the radar in terms of publicity through his limited international career. A quiet achiever, removed from the controversies that players like David Warner and co, get themselves embroiled in. If only there were more cricketers like him these days.
Nudge
Guest
He certainly looks English
TheCunningLinguistic
Guest
True, but demand doesn't always equal supply...
Grand Armee
Guest
I wish he was english. He bats like us anyway.
damo
Guest
I was never a big fan of Rogers until I saw him live in Brisbane last year. His technique was impeccable, he looked so compact & effortless, patient & confident in waiting for the bad ball & in dispatching it, I was won over well & truly. In a world of Test cricket that now contains the T20 style anomalies such as the 'ramp' shot etc, Rogers presented a vision of someone that you would tell your kids to watch & learn from. Nothing against T20 etc, but for me, the patient technique & innings building that Rogers epitomises, is a timeless & classic style that is to be admired & enjoyed.
Amith
Guest
Well said Andy, he will be missed and i would also get Khawaja in to replace him.
chivasdude
Guest
Thanks Geoff. A fitting tribute to an old-time cricket professional and a great bloke. We need more of them. A team is a blend of individuals who each bring different talents. Rogers brought old fashioned attributes of fight, concentration, patience and temperament. And skill, of course, but they should all have that to make the team. The previous attributes are what we need more of. Thanks for the career Buck. You would make a great batting coach.
Matador
Guest
Really LOVE C Rogers...He would be a great man to have in the Australian Cricket admin, AND if he chooses to coach, his team will be so blessed to have him...AND the perfect timing to retire... My question is: Why is he retiring?? The best batsmen in the Australian team and such a shame to lose him and his experience while the Australian team undergoe a transition and begin to blood some new batsmen. Would have been immeasurably valuable to have him mentor and hold the team together while Steve gets his experience...I also love watching him graft graft and graft....
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Guest
Great article. Chris Rogers almost single handedly has removed the image of the ugly Australian as we used to know it. Instead of cocky arrogance we see in Rogers humility and justifiable pride in performances based on hard work and application. Congratulations Chris Rogers for a short but successful and memorable test career.
Julian King
Roar Guru
To be fair Geoff, Bucky isn't the first unlikely looking Australian cricketer. Dirk Welham always cut a nerdy figure with the specs under the hemlet. In this current age where pretty much all cricketers resemble athletes, Rogers ostensibly represents the everyday man. He gives the impression that elite representation is attainable. Mind you, we mistakenly believe style and talent are commensurate. They are not. Thus, to characterise someone like Rogers as having defied the odds to play test cricket is to do him a disservice. Despite being a lovable wonk, he is still that much better than we could ever hope to be.
Andy
Guest
Rogers retired as a champion and look forwRd to seeing him in coaching. As his replacement I hope we get Khawaja in as he can be a champion batsman if given a real run.Also Siddle still has few years left in him according to me. He holds up on end up beautifully & compliments the attacking & fearsome duo of Mitchell Johnson & Mitchell Starc. But with the competition for bowling spots being so huge nowadays it becomes very important for Siddle to grab all the opportunities he gets.
AZ_RBB
Guest
We seem to have had a couple of these types in recent years. Ed Cowan and Phil Jacques come to mind. Of course it would be no fun if they were all like that.
pjm
Roar Rookie
You'd have to have low self esteem to choose to look like someone else.
Geoff Parkes
Expert
Great piece Geoff. I made the observation that if Shane Watson could have his career again, and had the choice of looking like Rogers and taking his average, or looking like himself and taking his own average, I reckon he'd still choose himself. Which would explain the esteem both players are held in by cricket fans...
pjm
Roar Rookie
I doubt it. His succes has proven that you need a player like that now more than ever.
Will Sinclair
Roar Guru
"That idea about him being pulled out of the crowd isn’t far off the mark. He has an everyday quality, a humility created from a lifetime of graft in first-class cricket rather than afloat in a media bubble on a sea of adulation and rage." Beautifully put. And absolutely correct. And, in the age of T20 riches, he might be the last of a dying breed.
Arthur Pagonis
Roar Guru
Mark Taylor said of Steve Smith, "Get ready mate, here come the grey hairs.". Michael Clarke and Chris Rogers can add colours to theirs. They were/are fantastic guys, salt of the earth cricketers of the Australian variety…like hundreds before them. The ECB finale for both was magnificent, and they were magnificent in their remarks to questions. Many thanks to Andrew Strauss and Gemma Ward for the send-off. It touched my heart. It reveals to cricketers everywhere that the strain, pain and pure athletic fun of cricket keeps the older and younger guys fit, healthy and wealthy...and wise….and that is the message it needs to send to young people. Cricket is NOT an elite sport. It is for the people. It is a great builder of character and has many great characters in it. I hope the ECB, BCCI and CA come to realise this. Cricket must be expansionist and inclusive of boys, girls, men, women…everywhere. There are 100 countries with boys and girls like Michael and Buck just waiting to get involved. They don’t need hubris and furore at the top. They need jobs in cricket to feed into! That means a World Cricket League and national Leagues in 3 forms of the game. They are great Aussies, Chris and Michael. They have tried with every sinew in their bodies to be great for Australia to win every game they played, which is why they won the final Test yesterday. And so they went out with a big smile and a weight like a piano off their backs. And we must honour them as heroes. They won't be lost to cricket, Australian Cricket or any kind of cricket. They will be back for us to see on the Big Screen some time real soon. Thanks for everything fellas. You have that true Aussie spirit and have been a living example of it right throughout.