Dubai: Australia opener Chris Rogers has his say on the key figures in the recent Ashes series.
On opening partner David Warner: “Davie’s as talented a player as there is and he’s still in the initial stages of his career in some respects, but it’s great to see him do well and really step up. [When batting together] I reckon it’s just a case of letting him go to do his own thing. You don’t want to hold him back at times as that can put a bit of doubt in his mind. He’s just that kind of player — when he’s on he can almost win you a game in a session. Just let him go and enjoy the ride.”
On skipper Michael Clarke: “I thought his captaincy was brilliant. Now that I’ve done a fair bit of captaincy, it’s always interesting to play under someone else and sometimes you can get quite critical, but I thought Clarke was outstanding.”
On coach Darren Lehmann, who was appointed just days before last year’s series in England: “You have to give him a lot of credit. He created an environment that allowed guys to express themselves and be aggressive when they wanted and know they could play the way they wanted. Not that I’m saying they didn’t have that before, but I could really feel that guys could play exactly how they wanted to.”
On England batsman Jonathan Trott, who left Australia after one Test due to a stress-related illness: “I heard it might have been brewing for a little bit but I don’t know much at all. It’s an interesting environment to be in. I’ve only had a brief taste of it but the tough times can get you down and it almost becomes all-encompassing. You let it mean so much to you that it becomes quite tough. I can sympathise with what he would have felt.”
On Graeme Swann, who surprisingly retired after the third Test: “I found him tough as usual. I was probably the happiest man of all when he called it a day and that was probably reflected in the last two games [when Rogers averaged 76.75]. But you never want to wish someone anything bad. He’s had a great career but he probably just thought that was his moment to call it a day. Good luck to him.”
On his battles with England fast bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad: “As an opening batsman, the opening bowlers are always the ones, not that you target, but you know that’s your battle. I did a lot of work against spin because I knew Swann was going to cause me a lot of problems. But to get to Swann I had to get through the opening bowlers and I’m pretty proud that I did quite well against those two guys because they’re both exceptional bowlers.”
