Nine’s Wide World of Sports
Michael Clarke won the toss and sent Australia in to bat.
David Warner holed out to Moeen Ali for 38.
It was a balmy 20 degrees in London when Steve Smith walked through the Long Room and towards the centre wicket of Lord's.
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The sun was shining on the home of cricket and Smith had a glint in his eye, no smile on his face. A cobra poised to strike.
"That day it looked like there was a bit of anger sitting beneath the surface, and he had a real point to prove," Chris Rogers tells Wide World of Sports a decade on.
It was July 16, 2015 when Rogers welcomed his friend Smith to the crease on the first morning of the second Ashes Test.
Steve Smith's 2015 Lord's double century was one of his best innings. Nine
Australia was 1-78 batting on what former England bowler Graeme Swann later called a "road".
What unfolded over the ensuing 24 hours would break England, and cement Smith's place in cricket folklore.
Smith was 29 matches into his blossoming Test career when he padded up at Lord's that day.
He was already on his way to carving out an elite career – he averaged a whopping 81.85 from nine Test matches in 2014 and had been ranked the No.1 batter in the world. Superstardom was at his feet.
He was knocking on the door of scoring a maiden double century in the baggy green. He had scored a 192 against India and a 199 against the West Indies in the months leading up to the 2015 Ashes series.
Prior to the start of the series he boldly declared England "won't come close" to beating Australia – an arrogant quip he would come to regret.
He scored 33 and 33 at Cardiff in the first match of the series as England won by 169 runs.
"I think Steve said a couple of things in the media leading into the series, basically that if we played to our best it would be too good for England," Rogers recalls to Wide World of Sports.
"The first Test hit us hard, and hit Steve hard as well. I think he got two 30s… he got out to Moeen Ali, who I'd say wouldn't be the best bowler he ever got out to.
Chris Rogers and Steve Smith walk off Lord's after day-one centuries in 2015. Getty
"It was probably a real opportunity he let slip, in an innings that could have made a big difference, considering the way he was playing at the time. He got out for 30 something in the second innings, and probably felt from his point of view that he hadn't pulled his weight.
"Coming into Lord's I think there was a bit of 'what the hell just happened?' feeling amongst the group, and it was 'how do we turn this around?'.
"So, when Steve got the chance…"
Cue batting wizardry.
Rogers was 22 yards away to witness one of the best innings in Ashes history.
He, too, plundered the English attack to all corners of the sport's most revered oval.
"It was a big day for us, and it was a chance to really turn the tables on England, and I don't think either of us wanted to let that chance slip," he says.
Steve Smith celebrates his century with Chris Rogers. Getty
"There was a fair bit of hunger among both of us, and it proved that way. Maybe we gave a half chance each throughout the day, but that was about it."
Australia made it to stumps on day one at 1-337 – Rogers at the crease on 158 and Smith on 129.
Rogers was on cloud nine and went out to dinner with family and friends to celebrate his highest Test score.
It was his fifth century for Australia but he had never made it past 119 previously.
"I remember it was pure elation, really. I'd probably gone through the stages of relief when I did well – when you do well for Australia there is a fair bit of relief, when you realise you are actually good enough," he says.
"It was also a day that we were reminded we could dominate against this side if we played well."
Exactly what Smith was doing as Rogers was celebrating remains a mystery.
The Australian balcony celebrates Steve Smith's double century at Lord's in 2015. Getty
"I have absolutely no idea what Smudge did. We all kind of went our separate ways a little bit in the evening, but I daresay he was doing the same," Rogers says.
The pair reconvened at Lord's the following morning and strolled back out to the middle. Rogers was still on a high, but Smith had business to finish.
"He might have looked at it a bit differently than I did, but I was pretty happy. I couldn't sleep that night because I was playing the innings over in my head," Rogers says.
"First ball the next day I got hit in the head by (James) Anderson, so I probably wasn't as sharp as I needed to be… but (Smith) was.
"I got out not long after, but he just put his foot down. And some of his batting was sublime. When they bowled short to him he absolutely pumped them, and when they pitched it up he thumped through the covers. It was as good a batting as you'll see."
After Rogers was bowled by Stuart Broad in the sixth over of day two Australia was 2-362. The pair had put on 284 runs together, but Smith had not yet reached 140.
He picked up the pace as three more batting partners fell around him.
And with the 336th ball of his innings, Smith flicked Moeen Ali off his pads to the boundary to surpass 200 for the first time in his Test career.
A jubilant Steve Smith celebrates his first double century. Getty
"It was like watching a master at work," Rogers – who watched a replay of the innings before speaking to Wide World of Sports – recalls.
"He just had the bit between his teeth and he was absolutely committed. It was the shots he played – he thumped them, he hit it hard. And he's not always like that, sometimes he just grinds and gets the job done.
"This is a big call, but he looked as intense as he's ever been when he batted.
"I still think it comes back to the fact he made that statement before the series, and then got a couple of starts in the first Test and didn't go on with it, so he had a point to prove.
"I reckon if you look back at his celebration, for him there was a fair bit of, it almost looked like a bit of frustration – 'this is what I should have done in the first game'."
Rogers played his best ever Test innings, but it was ultimately overshadowed by what his mate did up the other end.
The left-handed opener, though, certainly is not bitter.
"If anything it's something I get to tell my son – I got to bat a whole day with Steve Smith," he says.
"Even that is a great honour in itself. I look at it fondly that I got to share that time with an absolute master of the craft."
Australia won the match by 405 runs to square the series, but ultimately fell 3-2 in what the players would still regard as one of the biggest missed opportunities in their careers.
"Even now you're kicking yourself with some of the little things that happened, the opportunities we missed," Rogers says.
"In many respects we should have won it, but we didn't, and we weren't good enough. It is frustrating… we should have won considering the side we had, and particularly the bowlers we had. But it wasn't meant to be."
Smith is one of only three Australian batters to score a double century at Lord's, and he is the only one since World War II.
Sir Don Bradman scored 254 in 1930, and Bill Brown scored 206 not out in 1938.
Smith's 215 – he was eventually out lbw to Joe Root – is the seventh highest Test score ever at the famous London venue.
Lord's members applaud Steve Smith off the field after his 2015 heroics. Getty
"That privilege of getting to play at Lord's doesn't dwindle. The feel you get when you actually go in there to play is very different to just about every other place you play at, and you kind of realise you are at the home of cricket," Rogers says.
"It probably does inspire a little bit. And if you get in there, it is the greatest place in the world to bat."
Smith returns to Lord's on Wednesday evening, almost 10 years since his 2015 demolition job.
He will lead Australia's charge against South Africa in the World Test Championship final, dreaming to emulate his heroics at the ground a decade ago.
The Aussie superstar has notched three more double centuries since that first – and most famous – one, his last coming in November 2022.
Does the "best since Bradman" have one more in him?
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EXCLUSIVE: Batting partner Chris Rogers lifts lid on 'anger' behind Steve Smith's famous 2015 Lord's double century – wwos.nine.com.au
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