HISTORY is beckoning for Chris Rogers.

The Australian left-handed opener lit up a dull contest with a magnificent 237 not out on the third day of Derbyshire's LV County Championship match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.

He has already fulfilled his primary task by leading Derbyshire comfortably to a position where they cannot – barring a complete rush of blood – lose on the final day today.

A poor contest may be heading for a meaningless final day but Rogers can bring significance to it by beating George Davidson's 112-year-old record for the highest score ever made by a Derbyshire batsman.

Davidson made 274 against Lancashire at Old Trafford in 1896. Rogers is already number seven on the all-time list and you would not bet against him taking his place at the very top.

Rogers, who celebrates his 31st birthday tomorrow, played beautifully and, while the numbers never tell the full story, there were plenty of other personal marks passed on the way to illustrate just how important a day this was for him.

This was the fifth score of 200 or more in Rogers' career and his highest score for Derbyshire, beating his 156 against Durham in 2004.

When he passed 20, the Australian reached 1,000 first-class runs for the season. At 144, he had 1,000 in the Championship and, at 183, Rogers moved beyond 10,000 first-class runs in his career.

He and Paul Borrington gave Derbyshire the ideal start in their quest to overhaul the 327 they needed to avoid handing Warwickshire their best chance of victory – by being made to follow-on.

Just to add to the statistical avalanche, the openers' stand of 176 was the highest first-wicket partnership by any pair in the whole of this Championship season.

Borrington's role in that should not be overlooked because he had to survive a torrid going-over from big Boyd Rankin at the start of the day but recovered to give another illustration of his great poise by scoring 62, off 160 balls with 10 fours, for his third half-century of the season.

Dan Redfern, another of the young brigade, could not flourish this time but Wavell Hinds shone too briefly for his 40 and Tom New added 44.

If they were the highs, the low was certainly Rikki Clarke's second-ball duck – a top-edged pull. It may be kindest to end the former captain's suffering now.

By the time New was sixth man out, Derbyshire were already well beyond their safety mark and had half an eye on pushing maybe 100 runs or so beyond Warwickshire's 476 with a view to a possible new ball blitz of the home side some time today.

That appears to be the only way the game will finish as anything other than a draw.

Derbyshire are almost up to par, having closed the day on 462-7 and if Rogers can find the energy to lead one more assault, the contest may yet show a pulse.

At the close, Rogers had faced 323 balls and has hit 32 fours and one six. He was given one reprieve when, on 154, he was caught at second slip off a Boyd Rankin no-ball but it was an otherwise faultless show.

It deserves to have its place in the county's history. George Davidson has held the record for long enough.