Australia have celebrated their Ashes triumph with thousands of fans at the Sydney Opera House but opener Chris Rogers nearly missed the party.
The veteran left-hander, who finished the back-to-back Ashes series as the leading run-scorer across both countries with 831 runs, wasn't present when the Australian squad were introduced on stage alongside Prime Minster Tony Abbott.
The rest of the squad were given a heroes' welcome by the crowd on Tuesday, with some players looking slightly worse for wear after two days of partying since Sunday's SCG triumph which sealed a 5-0 series whitewash.
According to the MC, Rogers had "other commitments" but the sheepish 36-year-old batsman admitted upon his arrival that he had "just slept in" following another big night of celebrations.
Teammate Ryan Harris joked that he was fearing worse for Rogers.
"We thought he was in jail actually."
Team management weren't able to get in contact with Rogers until they arrived at the Opera House.
An official then went to pick him up from the hotel and he appeared later to sign autographs and pose for photos with eager fans.
Asked if Darren Lehmann had given him a dirty look on his way in, Rogers said: "I'm surprised he's here."
He then conceded he'd be doing his best to avoid him.
"I haven't seen him yet so I'll probably keep away from him," he said.
"These moments don't come along too often, if ever ... (but probably) enjoying it too much."
Coach Lehmann was far from impressed at the tardiness but in the grand scheme of things, team management were treating it as a minor incident.
Man of the series Mitchell Johnson received the biggest roar of the day when he was introduced to the crowd and described the joy he took in shutting up England's support group, the Barmy Army.
"The Barmy Army have given me a hard time over the years, so it was nice to be able to turn around put five fingers up (at the SCG) and say 5-0 (to them)," he said.
Share
