The Ashes 2013: Chris Rogers shows Australia what they had been missing

For most of his time at the crease, Rogers was accompanied by Shane Watson, who played his best hand in what has been a trying series for the aggressive opener. Demoted to number six in the order, he seemed mostly untroubled and together they added 131 very important runs in what should turn out to be a low-scoring game.

Along with Shane Watson, Chris Rogers added 131 valuable runs

With a long and outstanding first-class career consisting of 243 games and over 20000 runs at an average of over 50, it might seem incongruous that Rogers was ignored by his country for so long. He had only one Test to his name before the selectors looked his way again for this Ashes series, and that was way back in the 2007-2008 tour by India.

It must have been difficult for him to see them prefer, again and again, players with significantly inferior credentials while he racked up 60 first-class hundreds for various English counties and for Western Australia.

Yet, with the call coming again at this late stage, Rogers is sure to do his best to make it count. He has the good sense to know that he should treat perceived injustices of the past like the deliveries that beat his bat – forget about them. From here he could still go on to forge a fulfilling career in his country’s Test team.

In an interview after stumps, Rogers said he had somewhat given up hope of ever being recalled by his country. “After all this time you just don’t think that this opportunity is going to come up,” he admitted. There were times when he waited to hear his name mentioned by the selectors and felt his chance had passed each time it was never called. Given an opportunity at last, his joy must have been unbounded when his century came, and he knew he had made his mark on an Ashes series.

“After all this time you just don’t think that this opportunity is going to come up” – Chris Rogers made up for the disappointment in a grand fashion

With Australia fielding such an inexperienced batting line-up, Rogers should be able to remain a vital cog. His country, that had overlooked his claims for so long, might find itself relying upon him for runs and solidity at the top of a batting order that has been troublesome for them recently.

Now they know what they had been missing all this time.