Aussies well placed for opening options

While Shaun Marsh was flaying Derbyshire's no-frills new ball attack to all parts of the equally utilitarian County Ground for the second time in three days, Chris Rogers' preparation for next week's third Test was unfolding at a much more sedentary clip.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that Rogers' bid to prove himself fit for the third match of the current Ashes series is so compromised that to name him in the starting XI – given the level of work he's undertaken over the past week – would seem as unwise as it is unlikely.

The 37-year-old returned to the fold of the Australia touring team for the final day of their tour match at Derby yesterday, having spent five days in London resting and undergoing tests to ascertain the nature and extent of the vestibular problem in his right ear that has affected his balance.

And his first day back at the coalface was scarcely more than a familiarisation visit.

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Rogers walks laps with Dr Peter Brukner // cricket.com.au

A couple of laps of the playing field before play began on the final day, a few perfunctory practice hits against some underarm bowling, and a handful of slow jogs to the middle to disseminate drinks to teammates flagging in the high-teens Midlands summer heat.

"He (Rogers) will continue to increase his level of activity over the next couple of days and will be closely monitored by team medical staff," Cricket Australia confirmed yesterday, with an equivocation that spoke volumes.

Rogers forced from field at Lord's (restrictions apply)

He will certainly be required to show that he is capable of doing markedly more over the next two days, with the case for once again installing Marsh as David Warner's Test opening partner in place of the injured Rogers becoming more compelling by the day.

Indeed, in his six and a bit days of competitive cricket on this tour thus far, Marsh has scored 245 runs from three innings and only once been dismissed by the opposition bowlers.

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Rogers bats some gentle underarms in Derby // cricket.com.au 

And that was to a catch in the deep as he selflessly surrendered his wicket on the tour's opening day at Canterbury to allow others in the team some batting practice.

His other two knocks have ended of his own accord, retiring twice in three days in the rain-affected tour fixture against division two county team Derbyshire.

While Rogers can claim to be mining an equally bountiful vein of form given the 173 he peeled off in Australia's thumping win at Lord's last week, he will need to show that he has a full range of movement and is utterly untroubled by the dizziness that struck him on the final day of that Test.

Rogers hits a career-best at Lord's (restrictions apply)

Which is proving a much more subjective diagnosis than ruling a fracture mended or a torn muscle healed.

"He had a few underarms this morning, and then went for a couple laps of the ground so he's slowly getting back into it and we'll update as soon as he's free to do it," Australia batting coach and former Derbyshire professional Michael DiVenuto said today.

"As soon as they give the all clear for him to get into full training he'll do that – just a normal preparation as soon as he's given the all clear."

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Rogers and Marsh speak at Derby // cricket.com.au

Should Rogers not receive that all clear in coming days, the Australians can take some comfort in the knowledge the player who will substitute for him is currently in the form of a cricket life that has known more than its share of peaks and troughs.

Marsh could consider himself unlucky on several counts, having been elevated to replace Rogers in the opener's guise in the Caribbean last month when Rogers suffered a serious bout of concussion, only to find himself out of the XI come the Ashes with Adam Voges having seized his place in the middle-order.

Marsh scores a century in the Caribbean in May (restrictions apply)

So while any freak fitness issues that keep 37-year-old Rogers from maximising what he has already foreshadowed will be his final series would be cruel, the double-edge of that sword is that Marsh might receive a chance he had seen as being some distance away as recently as a week ago.

"It's been great that every time Shaun's got an opportunity he's got a hundred in the tour games," DiVenuto said.

"He's got two over here and a hundred in the West Indies.

"For someone who hasn't had a history of scoring a lot of hundreds (16 in his 15-year first-class career) I think what we're seeing recently is fantastic and great news for Australian cricket."

Shaun Marsh's Derby century (restrictions apply) 

And while the uncertainty surrounding Rogers remains a concern for the Australia brainstrust as they head to Birmingham today, there is now less angst about the lack of batting time captain Michael Clarke has managed to find on this tour.

Clarke has posted just one score of 50 or above in seven Tests over the past year, with the exception being the mighty 128 he scored with a crook back and a heavy heart against India last December, just weeks after the death of his close mate Phillip Hughes.

But yesterday Clarke opened Australia's necessarily brief second innings and, even though he was missed on 19 when teenage rookie seamer Will Davis should have claimed his wicket for the second time in the match, he found form and fluency to complete the day unbeaten on 44. 

Quick Single: Clarke ticks box in Derby wrap

It might represent the stroke of fortune that the team batting coach believes the captain needed.

"He's had a couple of good starts in the Test matches, a caught and bowled to Moeen Ali up in Cardiff (in the first Ashes Test) and a 32 not out in the second innings at Lord's, though I know circumstances there were we were setting up a declaration," DiVenuto said today.

"But he's meticulous in his preparation, he's playing well in the nets, he's preparing well, he just needs a bit of luck.

"I'm sure a big score is not too far away.

Clarke makes runs in Derbyshire (restrictions apply)

"We (he and Clarke) talk regularly like with all the batsmen.

"He's pretty set in his ways what he wants to do, he knows how to go about it and how to get himself back scoring runs.

"You can't do that in the nets, you've got to do that out in the middle and at the moment it's not quite happening for him out in the middle.

"As happens every now and then as batsmen, you go through little patches where things don't quite click.

"But he's not too far away.

DiVenuto also dismissed suggestions that Clarke is increasingly restricted in his movement due to his chronic back problem, or that the hamstring surgery he underwent in the wake of that Adelaide Test has further impacted on his fluency and freedom as a batsman.

Clarke stars in World Cup triumph (restrictions apply)

"I thought he looked pretty good in the World Cup final for his 70-odd not out," DiVenuto said.

"And he looked pretty good when he couldn't move and he scored a hundred when his back was no good against India (in Adelaide).

"He's moving around, he seems unrestricted and he hasn't had a problem since (the surgery), so I certainly don't think that's any reason why he hasn't been able to get a big score of late."

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