Rogers slips under the radar

Chris Rogers on his only Test appearance for Australia in January © Getty Images

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Watching the Derbyshire players warm up on the outfield, it is impossible to spot the Australia Test cricketer among them.

Wrapped up in goodness knows how many sweaters, sporting woolly hats and the occasional pair of thermal leggings as the wind whips across the County Ground, there is little to distinguish one member of the squad from another.

Even after a session which ends with a complicated-looking fielding drill that becomes a blur of blue fleeces, and the players head back to the pavilion, Chris Rogers hardly stands out from the crowd.

In fact, it is a fair bet that the majority of English fans would not recognise the man who was opening the batting for the best Test side in the world less than three months ago.

Which, one suspects, is just how Rogers likes it.

The unassuming Rogers is in his second spell at Derbyshire

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The left-hander, who will serve as Derbyshire’s overseas player when the domestic season gets under way next week, is as unassuming a cricketer as you are likely to meet.

Standing 5ft 9in, of slender build and wearing glasses – a rarity among professional athletes – Rogers is thoughtful, quietly spoken and deliberate in his answers.

He will nevertheless be expected to set the tone with bat in hand in 2008, especially following the departures of compatriots Simon Katich and Travis Birt, who scored more than 2,000 championship runs between them last season.

It is a situation Rogers, 30, takes in his stride. “That’s my job and the pressure of being an overseas player is all part of it – you’re expected to do well,” he told ecb.co.uk on the eve of the new campaign.

“But I’ve played enough cricket to know that, and you’ve got to take the good with the bad and get on with it.

“I’m not going to try and put too much pressure on myself; I don’t think there’s too much point in it. I just want to enjoy myself.”

Rogers will cover for Mahela Jayawardene's absence

Rogers was signed as back-up for Mahela Jayawardene, who will miss the start of the English season due to his involvement in the Indian Premier League, but there are question marks over whether the Asia Cup in June and July will prevent the Sri Lanka captain from fulfilling his contract at Derby.

“It looks like I might be here for the summer; I’m not 100 per cent sure yet,” said Rogers. “Whether Mahela comes or not, I’m preparing for the season as if I’m staying.”

While losing Jayawardene, one of the world’s best batsmen, would be keenly felt by the club, Rogers’ record should hearten those who do not remember him from his brief spell with the county in 2004.

He averaged 55 in six championship matches for Derbyshire in a season curtailed by injury, and hit a double century for Leicestershire against the touring Australians the following summer.

While he struggled in 2006 during a stint at Northamptonshire, a career first-class average of 47 bears comparison with many of the top batsmen currently playing the game.

Rogers has not given up hope of a recall to the Australia side

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Rogers won a call-up to the Australia Test side against India in January on the back of his consistently excellent form for Western Australia, although he managed 19 runs in two innings and has not featured since.

Speaking on the day he was dropped from the list of Australia’s contracted players, Rogers vowed to change the selectors’ minds through sheer weight of runs at Derbyshire.

“That’s the best way,” he said. “You don’t want to be a one-Test player and it was hard after I played the Test to go back and realise you’ve got to try and get back there all over again. That was difficult mentally.

“But after a while you realise that’s why you play the game, and I’d love to have a few more opportunities and show people I can play at that level.

“There probably aren’t a lot of younger openers around the traps, so I still think there are plenty of opportunities to come.”

If Rogers does achieve his twin goal of fighting his way back into the Australia team on the back of a prolific season at Derbyshire, it will do his chances of remaining anonymous no good at all.