LONDON // Australia opener Chris Rogers said he has learnt a lesson from trying to sell hospitality packages for the Lord’s Ashes Test, but denies any wrongdoing and is determined to swiftly put the controversy behind him.
Inside Edge Experience, run by Rogers and his former Middlesex colleague Tom Scollay, was reportedly offering what it described as “a unique and exclusive opportunity to attend the sold-out second Ashes Test”.
The advertising for the package had disappeared from the company’s LinkedIn page on Wednesday morning, while its Facebook page could not be found and its website brought up a page reading “Inside Edge Experience is currently under development”.
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Middlesex have withdrawn the tickets allocated to Inside Edge, while Cricket Australia said they were “satisfied all concerned set out with good intentions” over the “misunderstanding in the way they went about getting hold of the tickets”.
Rogers has maintained he acted in good faith and could go into the Ashes series with a clear conscience.
Speaking at the Spitfire Ground in Kent before Thursday’s tour match, he said: “I went about it what I thought was the right way, it turned out it probably wasn’t.
“I have probably learnt my lesson, but there was no intent to deceive or anything like that.
“I look back at it a bit disappointed about how things turned out, but thought I was open and honest with everything I did.
“It has been frustrating, and was something I was looking to hopefully develop after cricket, which is coming very soon.”
Rogers, 37, is set to retire after the end of the Ashes series.
The 37-year-old spent a large part of his career in England, with spells at Derbyshire as well as Middlesex, where he was captain of the county side.
Middlesex chief executive Vinny Codrington issued a strongly worded statement against the “enthusiasm and naivety” involved on both sides.
Rogers has scored three Ashes hundreds, but was forced to miss the recent two Tests in the West Indies because of concussion after being struck on the head in the nets.
After scoring 70 in a warm-up match on the Isle of Wight, Rogers is determined to use the next four-day tour games in Kent and Essex to force his way back into the opening partnership with David Warner for the first Ashes Test in Cardiff from July 8.
“I can’t wait to get out there, with the concussion and now this, it is not how I saw my last tour,” he said.
“I just want to play and this is something fantastic to be part of. I am going to enjoy it.”
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