Cricket: Questions over Australia's odd couple

England's Graeme Swann (left) and Alistair Cook celebrate the wicket of Australia's Chris Rogers. Photo / AP

Chris Rogers is no doubt thankful that Australian selectors aren't like him: short-sighted and colour blind.

But whether the selectors have the patience of the ginger-haired Rogers may decide the future of the bulk of Australia's batsmen.

Rogers played his first test in 2008. Four years later, he was on the scrapheap when he lost his Victorian contract.

Rogers responded with a batsman's only currency: runs, and lots of them.

He won back his state spot. Then made mountains of runs for Victoria and in English county cricket.

So many runs, he was summoned by Australia mid-year; five-and-a-half years after his first test, Rogers again wore his baggy green cap.

But Rogers arrived in Adelaide for the second Ashes test candidly admitting he needed more runs to stay in the test team. And he got them yesterday - 72, to be precise.

Rogers and Shane Watson, Australia's odd couple, put on a 121-run partnership at Adelaide Oval.

For a while, they were Batman and Robin - the muscle-bound Watson and his diminutive offsider, who wears contact lenses.

But just as they were asking serious questions of England, they became question marks themselves.

Watson drove a half-volley straight back where it came - the hands of Jimmy Anderson.

Batman made 51 - his 21st test half-century. He comes with just three test tons and an average of 35.77. Will his prodigious talent ever come with prodigious scores?

Six balls later, Robin was out. Rogers wafted lazily to a fairly innocuous ball from Graeme Swann and was caught behind.

He now averages 33.92 in tests, and has fallen to Swann seven times in seven tests. Will he ever prosper against the English offspinner?

Their dismissals followed the demise of David Warner, who made 29 from 32 balls then threw his wicket away, feeding a catch to backward-point from an innocuous Stuart Broad short ball.

The hit-or-miss Warner averages 39.09. Will he ever be a reliable test opener?

Broad finished the day with two wickets as England took the honours, restricting Australia to 273-5 on a docile pitch made for scoring runs.

- AAP