Rogers keen to put focus on batting

Having shaken off the lingering effects of concussion and the non-related headaches from a fledgling venture as a corporate hospitality tour operator, Chris Rogers can't wait to finally return to the sanctuary of the batting crease.

It's a rare breed of folk who finds facing the opposition's fastest bowlers armed with a rock-hard new ball as a form of respite, but having missed the two recent Tests in the West Indies after being struck in the head at training and found himself in the crosshairs of UK newspapers today that's how Rogers is feeling.

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The likely batting order for Australia's four-day warm-up match against county strugglers Kent at the famed Canterbury ground sees Rogers joined at the top by the man who assumed his role in the Caribbean, fellow left-hander Shaun Marsh.

With another four-day game against Essex to follow in the wake of the tour opener that starts Thursday night (8pm AEDT) there is not much that can be read into the make-up of the tourists' XI other than the likelihood any batsmen who misses out in Canterbury will be granted a second chance in Chelmsford.

But Rogers, who has announced this tour will be his curtain call from a lengthy first-class career that has been belatedly and deservedly crowned with Test match incumbency, is hoping he can seize back his place in the Xi at first opportunity.

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Rogers in the nets at Canterbury // cricket.com.au

"Who knows, that's for the selectors to decide," Rogers said when asked about a potential batting showdown with Marsh after the Australians completed a lengthy training run amid bursts of sunshine in a city better known for its religious and literary past than its declining cricket fortunes of the present.

"I know he (Marsh) is a fantastic player and he (was) asked to do a job and he did a good job (in the Caribbean).

"It was particularly tough against the new ball over in the West Indies.

"That's the great thing about our squad, we've got depth and a lot of blokes with confidence which is probably a little bit different to where we were last time we were here (in 2013).

"It is nice to have familiarity with the conditions … but it is going to be tough and I have to earn my place back."

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Shaun Marsh meets the Kent locals // cricket.com.au

The kerfuffle over Rogers' role in a well-intentioned but ultimately misguided enterprise to deliver clients with an insider's experience of the looming Lord's Test dominated the questions when Rogers fronted the media today.

But of greater import to the 37-year-old will be posting a sizeable score after his return to competitive cricket was cut short by another Australia veteran, seamer Ryan Harris, who dismissed his teammate-come-rival in a two-day hit-out with Hampshire's Second XI last week on the Isle of Wight.

"It was interesting, I hadn't batted much before the first innings and facing one of the best bowlers in the world it was always going to be tough," said Rogers who bounced back with a quick-fire 70 the day after his disappointment.

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Rogers meets the press in Kent // cricket.com.au

"Hopefully he (Harris) went a little bit easy on me in the second innings and I was lucky enough to make a few and spend some time in the middle.

"It was a challenge but they are all going to be challenges from here on in.

"I can't wait to get out there to be honest, the concussion and now this (ticketing issue) is not how I saw my last tour."

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Johnson fires up in the nets // cricket.com.au

The Australians have opted to rest Rogers' regular opening partner David Warner, batsman Adam Voges, pace bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, spinner Nathan Lyon and reserve 'keeper Peter Nevill from the opening warm-up fixture.

Rogers, who in his extensive career on the county circuit has learned the idiosyncracies of most UK venues, assesses that the Canterbury pitch won't offer great help to the tourists' starting pace attack of Mitchell Johnson, Harris and Peter Siddle.

But it could provide a useful spur for aspiring leg spinner Fawad Ahmed and even Steve Smith, who is well known in the county having played league cricket for Seven Oaks and who has strong family ties to Kent – his mother was born in the Garden County and his sister has lived here for years.

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Smith will bat No.3 in the tour match // cricket.com.au

Not that sentiment will tinge his or his teammates' preparation for the coming Ashes battle.

"I think it (the Canterbury pitch) will keep pretty low and it will take a bit of turn, usually it gets pretty worn here," Rogers said.

"But it's not a bad place to bat either, so hopefully we get some really good practice out of this match.

"We're going to play to win, we'll play it hard."

Australian XI: Chris Rogers, Shaun Marsh, Steve Smith, Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Mitchell Marsh, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Fawad Ahmed.

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