I disagree with the selectors decision to drop me after 6 Tests: Brad Hodge

Former Australia cricketer Brad Hodge played just six Tests, 25 ODIs and 15 T20Is for Australia as against 223 first-class, 251 List A and 262 Twenty20s games that he featured in. The 41-year-old recently said that he disagreed with the Australian selectors’ decision to drop him having played just six Tests across three years. In his brief Test career, Hodge scored a double century against South Africa at Perth in December 2015.

He also said that he regrets having not got enough opportunities to play Tests for Australia in spite of his average that was well over 55. “It [the double ton] was exactly what I thought the Australian cricket team needed at the time, but unfortunately it didn’t last much longer,” he said.

“Of those six Tests, I only made under 25 twice. They’re the things you really look back and struggle to understand. That’s the really hard call from the selectors that they made, and I disagree with it, 100 per cent for sure, as a lot of people would. Lucky enough for me, I’ve been able to forge a pretty good T20 career and I’ve been able to achieve other things around the world and in this country as well, that have had a huge effect on my life and also other people’s cricketing lives.”

Australia will now host South Africa for a three-Test series, on the occasion, Hodge recalled his double hundred against the same opponent and said that he ended the day on 91 and had a tough time sleeping since he was very close to his maiden Test ton. “You just sort of run through your mind whether you should just try to grind it out for nine singles, or you just go ‘oh well, I’ll have two shots here and get it done’,” he said.

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“But you just stick to what you know, pretty much the basics, if you trust yourself and your abilities, then it should work. I remember my wife [Megan] flew home on the plane overnight. She had no idea [of his score] and the pilot actually was giving indications about the scores over the PA.”

All-rounders are an important part of any team given their overall utility and value addition to the unit and Hodge feels that Mitchell Marsh will be a crucial player in the upcoming series. “I think [chairman of selectors] Rod Marsh is spot on with Mitchell Marsh,” he said. “He just needs to fire up a little bit, he’s got the potential and it’ll come, but I think if you’re going to hold down the No. 6, he needs to start making some centuries. It’s a pretty important position and if he can fire up, I think everything else will fall into place,” Hodge concluded saying.