Rogers finds inspiration in classroom techniques

When Tom Rogers felt he didn't start very well two games into his time at a new club, he went back to the drawing board, literally.

The bustling right-arm quick and high school PE teacher was part of an offseason shake up at the Melbourne Renegades, recruited from the Hurricanes to bolster their experience and death bowling stocks after he enjoyed a breakout season last summer.

And while he collected three wickets in the Renegades opening two matches against the Heat and Thunder, the 28-year-old conceded more than 10 runs an over and felt he hadn't performed the way he wanted.

He responded the best way he knew how: wickets.

Four of them in fact, rediscovering his best form from the Hurricanes with a career-best T20 haul in their third match of KFC BBL|12 in Geelong, where the Renegades return tonight to do battle with the Sixers.

"I actually got a pen and paper out and tried to do a little bit deeper analysis on the opposition and just be really clear on what I was going to do to each," Rogers told cricket.com.au of his 4-23 against the Heat at GMHBA Stadium.

"(Then) I thought, I'm thinking too much about cricket, so I actually did do a couple of lesson plans to get my mind off things."

Since the start of BBL|11 only AJ Tye, Peter Siddle, Hayden Kerr and Daniel Sams have taken more wickets than Rogers's 28, such has been the evolution of his T20 skills after being unable to break into a Big Bash side the previous season.

But he admits his mindset following the offseason shift may have played a role in not starting the way he wanted at his new club.

The ACT-born Tasmanian seamer had to fight for every match last summer and was one of the last players on the Hurricanes list, filling spot number 17 of 18 just a few weeks before the start of BBL|11.

This year, however, he had a new deal locked away as soon as the contracting embargo lifted in June following a breakout tournament of 20 scalps where he was the equal-fourth highest wicket-taker for the season alongside Rashid Khan.

"There was a thought in the back of my mind I was probably trying a bit too hard in a new set-up with new staff, new teammates," Rogers says of his first two games for the Renegades.

"(It was) a pretty carefree attitude last year, I had nothing to lose.

"And I guess the challenge of a sportsperson, you want to have that mindset at any point in time so you're just free-minded to do well.

"So I just went back to the drawing board and thought 'what do I do best, how do I take my wickets?', and usually that's a pretty simple game plan for me.

"Fortunately, it was a pretty seam-friendly wicket (in Geelong last time) and if you were able to put it in a pretty good spot with a little bit of wobble on the seam, you were able to get some rewards."

Rogers has become something of a white-ball specialist since losing his state deal at the end of the 2020-21 summer and he has played all five of Tasmania's Marsh One-Day Cup matches so far this season despite not starting the summer with a contract.

It's meant he's played enough matches to earn a full contract with Tassie for this season, and his sensational return of 15 wickets at 15 has him four clear at the top of the wickets tally for the entire competition.

"When I went off contract about 18 months ago, I saw the biggest opportunity in the Tassie system as being the death bowler," he says.

"So my offseason was pretty much targeted at that and I guess a few injuries previously semi-dictated that would be a focus as well.

"So I just went back and trained white-ball a little bit more, honed in on a few yorkers and tried to add a new slower ball or two to my game.

"But I think a lot of the success (has also been) just drawing back to my stock ball and my simple strengths that I've had for a lot longer than the last 18 months."

But despite a resurgence of his cricket career over the past 12 months, balancing teaching and cricket still remains a priority for the fiery fast bowler.

"I'm pretty lucky, I work at a really good school and they're really supportive of what I want to do," he says.

"I think they realise that professional sport does have an end date and it can come around pretty quick.

"So they're allowing me to go and play my cricket and I really appreciate that and I think I give a little bit more back when I'm there."

The Renegades have named an unchanged squad for tonight's match against the Sixers where they will be looking to redeem themselves after a disappointing batting effort against the same opposition two nights ago, where they were bowled out for 115 chasing 150 for victory at the SCG.

The Sixers have named England star Chris Jordan for his first match of the tournament following a nerve issue in his back, with veteran tweaker Steve O'Keefe remaining in Sydney after injuring his hamstring during Monday's Boxing Day clash.

Renegades squad v Sixers: Nic Maddinson (c), Aaron Finch, Martin Guptill (New Zealand), Peter Handscomb, Mackenzie Harvey, Akeal Hosein (West Indies), Shaun Marsh, David Moody, Kane Richardson, Corey Rocchiccioli, Tom Rogers, Will Sutherland, Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afghanistan), Jon Wells

Sixers squad v Renegades: Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Dan Christian, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Moises Henriques, Daniel Hughes, Chris Jordan (England), Hayden Kerr, Todd Murphy, Izharulhaq Naveed (Afghanistan), Kurtis Patterson, Josh Philippe, Jordan Silk, James Vince (England)