CHENNAI: Former Australian opener
Chris Rogers shares a great relationship with England. The left-hander played for various counties such as Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and even went on to lead Middlesex and Somerset.
Rogers, who featured in 25 Tests for Australia, believes the trick to succeed in England is to play late and with an angled bat. "The ball is going to move in England, and if you try to cut it across you have no chance really. The skill to succeed in English conditions is to play as late as possible.
Virat Kohli, in his last (Test) tour of England (in 2014) was squaring up a little and chopping down the ball. You have to stay side on and play as late as possible in England," said Rogers, who is here as part of National Cricket Centre in Brisbane accompanying 12 players from the
Australian Cricket Academy
.
Apart from playing late, Rogers believes it is important to be selective in your shot-making against
James Anderson
& Co. "You have got to know what the bowler is trying to do. When Anderson is bowling and if you are a right-hander - you have to understand that he is trying to get you caught in the slips. So perhaps as a batsman you have to be more selective around your cover drive but you still have to play that shot," said Rogers, who had an impressive 847 runs to his name from 10 Tests in England.
Not surprisingly, Rogers - during his playing days - took a lot of inspiration from former India skipper
Rahul Dravid and
Kumar Sangakkara's style of batting. "I still remember Dravid getting a hundred in England and watched how late he played. He was allowing the ball come onto him and not hitting it hard at all. Also, if one saw the wagon-wheel of Kumar Sangakkara's hundred against England (at Lord's) on his last tour there - a lot of his shots came on the square of the wicket," said Rogers.