Retiring Rogers posts ton against England

As he raised his arms in triumph, pointed towards the dressing room and celebrated his fifth Test century, the thought must have gone through Chris Rogers’ mind: “Have I pulled the pin too early?”

There’s no denying Rogers, who will turn 38 next month, is very much nearing the end of the line when it comes to his cricket career.

In May, he flagged the Ashes as his final stop, declaring he wouldn’t be boarding any flights to Bangladesh for Australia’s two-Test series in October.

Surely now he’s having second thoughts – or is at least being hounded by coach Darren Lehmann to change his mind.

After carrying Australia’s hopes in Cardiff with his first-innings 95 forming the spine of the tourists’ 308, Rogers backed up with a confident, composed and crucial knock at Lord’s.

“If you’re getting runs, why retire?” mused prolific England opener Geoffrey Boycott in radio commentary.

Certainly, Australia will miss his patience and poise.

Through nicks, nudges and nurdles, Rogers is able to grind through the trickiest of spells and slowly accumulate his runs.

On Thursday, he notched his eighth half century in nine innings before going on to reach three figures and ensure his name would be etched on the Lord’s honours board.

It was an innings of typical graft from the unfashionable Rogers, occasionally interspersed with glorious cover drives, such as the one that took him to 50, and late cuts, like that which brought up the 150-run partnership between him and Smith.

It has been a terrific renaissance for one of Australian cricket’s unlikeliest of heroes, who debuted in 2008 but had to wait until 2013 for his second Test.

And it’s a renaissance Lehmann may be trying to convince the bespectacled opener to extend past the end of this series.

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