Watson, Rogers dominate at top of Australian batting order Shane Watson and Chris Rogers of Australia leave the field at the lunch break during day one of the tour match against Worcestershire. Batting with Chris Rogers for the first time reminded Shane Watson of the chemistry he used to share with Simon Katich, a rapport he hopes will convert to positive starts for Australia during the Ashes. In the aftermath of the pair's first outing together, which yielded an opening stand of 170 and Watson's first century at first-class level in almost three years in the warm-up fixture at Worcester, the former vice-captain declared he and Rogers had the makings of a beautiful partnership. My game is more suited to opening the bowling and facing the quicks. It was a lot of fun out there. Australian opener Shane Watson He evoked the spirit of Katich, an ingredient missing from the Australian dressing room since he limped out of the home Ashes series in 2011 and had his career terminated, amid much public outrage, by Andrew Hilditch's selection panel. Ed Cowan of Australia leaves the ground after being run out against Worcestershire. Rogers, another experienced left-hander whose career was resurrected when his runs could no longer be ignored, quietly accumulated 76 while the rejuvenated Watson shredded the modest Worcester attack for 109 in 111 balls. Watson and Katich opened together in 15 Tests between 2009 and 2011, making 1523 runs with an average opening stand of 54.39. They came together at Edgbaston during the '09 Ashes, when Phillip Hughes was dropped. "It's great to be able to bat with Chris, he's a very experienced and knowledgable cricketer and he kept me going through a few periods of time," Watson said. He's able to sum up conditions and continue to provide his knowledge while we're out batting. I thought he gave me a few really good pointers out there at certain times, especially early on with him understanding the English conditions even better than I do. My combination with Simon Katich in the past is maybe along similar lines so it was really nice to be able to get a good partnership going the first time we got a chance to bat together. Hopefully as an opening combination we can continue that for quite a while. The opening stand of 170 was just what new coach Darren Lehmann had in mind when he united Watson and Rogers for the Ashes. The right-handed Watson blazed while the veteran left-hander accumulated. Watson smashed a century before lunch, from 94 balls, and ended up with 14 fours, many of them from imperious drives, and two sixes. It was his first century at first-class level since his second Test hundred in Mohali in October, 2010. Ultimately, Watson won't be judged by what he does in a low-key setting against a second division county team, but with scores of 109 and 90 on the tour so far he has made some powerful statements about where he'd rather bat. "It brings out the best in my personality, it gets me up and going every time I go out there," Watson said. The challenge of facing their best bowlers with the new ball ... I feel my game is well-equipped to handle that now with the experience I have been lucky enough to have from 2009 onwards. Ed Cowan, displaced from the opening position by Rogers, came in at first drop needing runs to shore up a place elsewhere in the order. He made a positive start, hitting off-spinner Moeen Ali for six over mid-wicket, but then the scoring rate ground to a halt. Cowan and Michael Clarke absorbed 34 balls without a run, a streak broken only when the captain edged through slips to the boundary. Cowan batted for almost three hours and ground out 58 but his stay ended in the worst possible way for a man fighting to secure a place in the Ashes line-up. He was involved in two run outs. Captain Michael Clarke was done in on 62 by a brilliant throw from square leg but the call for a tight single asked too much of a man with a back problem. There was worse to come for Cowan, who tripped and fell over in the middle of the pitch and was run out himself. He trudged from the field, his place no more secure than before. The Australians were 4-340 when the rain came, with Phillip Hughes and Steve Smith unbeaten on 10 and 21, respectively.