Chris Rogers fined by Darren Lehmann for arriving late to public Ashes celebrations Chris Rogers busts a move after arriving late to the Sydney Opera House. IF ever there was a time to 'blame it on the boogie', this is it. Australia batsman and avid Michael Jackson fan Chris Rogers has been hit with a fine after partying a bit too hard and arriving late to Australia's public Ashes celebration earlier this week. The veteran opener missed the majority of the official proceedings in the Sydney Opera House forecourt on Tuesday, and when he did finally arrive he looked rather sheepish as he fronted the media in dark aviator sunglasses. "I'm just enjoying it probably a bit too much," Rogers said at the time. On Thursday Rogers said he was embarrassed, first at being late and then having to show a few dance moves, at the official Ashes celebration event at the Sydney Opera House forecourt on Tuesday. He was fined by team management for his tardiness. " (Lehmann) has given me a bit of a slap on the wrist, and if you do the crime you've got do the time and fair enough," Rogers said. I do apologise for being late. It was fantastic for so many people to turn up ... that's why I probably had to get up on the dance floor. Rogers said he had another celebration on his radar - his brother David's 40th birthday in Perth - before he would turn his attention to facing South Africa's classy pace attack of Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel next month. "It's going to be a huge challenge," he said. If I can do well against these guys I can say that I've done well against the best in the world. Before then, Rogers will represent the third Australian state of his career in a bid to fine tune his game for the Test series in South Africa. With no Shield matches ahead of the February 12 first Test in Centurion - and no limited-overs cricket on his horizon - Rogers will prepare for the world's No.1 Test team by playing for the South Australian second XI in a Futures League four-day match against New South Wales at Blacktown from January 27. Steve Smith and Nathan Lyon are expected to round out their preparations by representing the Blues in the same match. Fast bowler Peter Siddle and emerging batsman Alex Doolan are also expected to play in the second XI league, although the Victorian paceman may be drafted into the Queensland team to take on Western Australia in Brisbane in the same week. "I don't think the Vics have got a game, so (high performance manager) Pat Howard and (coach) Darren Lehmann are just making sure there's a few of us who just get some cricket, for the right reasons," Rogers said. So I'll look forward to that and getting to know a few new teammates. Rogers began his career playing for Western Australia before joining Victoria in 2008. Rounding out his multi-state status, he was born in New South Wales and his father John was a right-handed batsman who represented the Blues in the late 1960s. Despite his 15-year first-class career, Rogers said he had never played in South Africa before, a fact he attributed to being "a hopeless T20 player." He was delighted, however, with his Ashes form, saying his two centuries from his past three innings had been "as good as I can play." Rogers said he had been surprised to learn during the SCG Test that he was the leading run-scorer from either team across the 10 Ashes Tests over the past 12 months. The 36-year-old opener scored 830 runs, including three tons and five half-centuries, at an average of 47.05. "I think Peter Siddle told me that at the end of day 2 in Sydney and I couldn't believe it, " he said. With the amount of quality in both sides, to be on top was an exceptional achievement and something I'm really proud of.