Former Australian Test captain Steve Waugh has called 'ugly duckling' opener Chris Rogers as the 'poster-boy' for aspiring young cricketers in these times of Ashes struggles.
According to News.com.au, generations of young players have grown up mimicking Ricky Ponting, Greg Chappell, Mark Waugh and Michael Clarke as their elegant blueprints for Test batsmanship.
However, Waugh, who was promoting his new book, Steve Waugh: The Meaning of Luck, said that had he been a young batsman now, he would have looked up to Rogers as his icon especially after England's 3-0 Ashes torture of the tourists as he had hung on through the tough times to score a 110 at Durham.
According to Waugh, although the hundred was not 'pretty', he was pleased that Rogers got an 'ugly' hundred rather than 'pretty' 20s, although the report said that Rogers hardly fitted the normal profile of Australian cricket idol as a late-blooming, bespectacled 35-year-old with limited and sometimes awkward strokes
However, Waugh said that Rogers must now open at the Gabba in November during the return Ashes series to help regain the urn, adding that a player's performance depends on his commitment, passion and urge to fight, instead of his age.
Waugh also said that the Ashes has shown that Australia needs tough Test match cricketers to win Test matches, adding that although Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris have shown that toughness through their bowling, the batsmen still need to find it out and learn to play Test match cricket again.
Meanwhile, Waugh said that all-rounder Shane Watson has hit a crossroads with a series average of just 27 with his LBW weakness, adding that he needs to score runs now whenever he is told to bat.
Waugh also advised Watson to deal with the anti-Watson feeling mentally, saying that the player needed to work it out soon or risk being replaced by Mitchell Marsh in his role in a few years.