Australia's Chris Rogers set to retire after Ashes series

Melbourne, May 18 (IANS) Australia's opening batsman Chris Rogers on Monday indicated that he will drop the curtains on his Test career at the completion of the upcoming Ashes series.

Rogers, 37, said signing off from his career that has so far netted him 20 Tests at the completion of the five-match Test series in Britain where he has played many seasons of country cricket would prove a fitting final act, reports cricket.com.au.The first Test of the Ashes series will start on July 8.

The left-hander who played one Test in his home town of Perth in 2008 before moving to Victoria where he continued to score heavily and was recalled to the Australia line-up for the 2013 Ashes campaign, is heading to the West Indies for Australia’s upcoming two-Test series.

"I’m very happy. I’ve been pretty fortunate to have this second go at it and have loved every moment of it. But time calls on everyone and I think it’s nearly up for me," he told Fox Sports.

"I think to go out in the Ashes and in England where I’ve played a lot of cricket is pretty fitting."

In the wake of last summer’s successful home Test campaign against India, Rogers hinted strongly that if he was part of Australia’s touring party for the West Indies and England that would likely be his Test cricket swansong. 

"With the amount of cricket I’ve played and the length of time I’ve spent there (in the UK) it would be maybe a great way to finish," he said in January of the chance to be part of the first Australian team to win an Ashes series away from home since 2001.

"I'm really looking forward to that if I get selected. It would round everything off and mean a lot. It would mean I've completed or been part of something big so that would be an ideal way to finish, so we’ll have to wait and see." 

In his 20 Tests, Rogers has scored 1535 runs at an average of 39.35 with four centuries and a highest score of 119. He has formed an eclectic but highly effective Test opening partnership with David Warner, and has amassed almost 24,000 runs in a first-class career stretching back 17 years.