Chris Rogers calls Lord's Ashes ton his 'proudest moment'
Tuesday 21 July 2015 07:06, UK
Chris Rogers told Sky Sports scoring a Test hundred at Lord's ranks as one of the highlights of his career.
Rogers and Steve Smith shared an unbroken stand of 259 - Australia's best for the second wicket at Lord's - as the tourists made the most of a benign wicket to rack up 337-1 on day one of the second Investec Ashes Test.
Both reached three figures for the first time at cricket's headquarters, Rogers' home from home after years playing for Middlesex in the County Championship.
The left-hander had passed 50 in seven of his previous eight innings without going on to a century, but he got there from 209 balls, 48 more than it took Smith.
He said: "It's one of the proudest moments of my career. I got a hundred at the MCG, then at the SCG and to get one here... it's so special.
"I've got a lot of support here, a lot of friends, and it just feels amazing to do it. I missed out last game, and played a couple of bad shots leading into it. It's important I got one here."
Smith scored freely without resorting to charging Moeen Ali, a tactic he had vowed to repeat in the run-up to the game despite it costing him his first-innings wicket in Cardiff.
He said: "We said as a batting group we needed to be more patient. Myself? I didn't want to go too hard at Moeen Ali.
"I think I was just in a bit of a hurry in Cardiff - I wanted to really take him down. Here, it was about just waiting for the bad ball and keeping them out there for as long as possible."
Moeen took the only wicket to fall - that of David Warner - but in general found as little help as the seamers.
That should change as the Test goes on, according to both Smith and Rogers, who expect Australia's own off-spinner Nathan Lyon to play a key role as they attempt to square the series.
"We'll keep batting and try to post a big first-innings total," Smith said. "That's going to be crucial on this wicket. There's a little bit of rough starting to form, so hopefully Nathan can get into the game for us."
Rogers said: "It's probably not a traditional Lord's county wicket - it's drier than usual. Even the last Test we played here it spun big towards the back end. Hopefully it will again."
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