Brad Hodge quits first-class cricket

[King Elvis]

I personally don't rate the bloke, I felt he went missing more often than not (brilliant Sri Lanka series aside), never ironed out the flaws in his game that saw him dismissed far too often either with a cut shot straight to a fielder, or lunging at a ball that wasn't there to be gone for and nicking to slip, akin to Mark Waugh.

Having said all that, I don't think the media put him on a massive pedastal either, and wouldn't consider him overrated.

...Martyn that is. Although the above could probably apply to Hodge too.

The Mark Waugh comment is a good one - Martos & Junior may have been considered better than they were, but it was because of the way they played the game. They were two of the most beautiful batsmen you'll ever see when it came to how they played their shots - but at times the mental application wasn't there to turn them into a Langer/S.Waugh type player.

 

[SBI]

No doubts was a terrific cricketer - but Victorian Cricket never ever screwed him over - so his decision to leave them in the lurch mid season is incredibly selfish.

The way he has ended a great first class career won't be forgotten - and thats a shame.

I don't think he's really left them in the lurch at all. If his heart isn't in the game, I'm not sure it is in Victoria's best interests to have a guy play another 20-30 full days of cricket for pittance.

A shame he didn't get more of a chance to prove his quality, but spots probably opened up in the side when he was at the wrong age to fill them. A great player for Victoria, and I don't think the way he exited will have any impact on my memory of him.

 

[demon48]

On the other hand, Brad gets his own "farewell" thread.
All Greg Mail gets is "Hang on, who are you again?"

 

[DeadlyAkkuret]

One is a spud and a cry baby, the other just a spud.

 

[Ill Chicken]

One is a spud and a cry baby, the other just a spud.

You obviously have nothing to say.

 

[DeadlyAkkuret]

You obviously have nothing to say.

Pretty sure I just did, "champ".

 

[Ill Chicken]

Pretty sure I just did, "champ".

Haha. No worries pal, I thought you were just basing your opinions on what other people had written in this thread.

 

[alfy!]

Wow, big loss for the Vics.

 

[Jumpin' Jimmy]

Leaving aside his batting...... his bowling and fielding were never up to Australian Test standard.

 

[Spikey]

Wasn't very good at keeping either and rumour has it he had a bit of a problem staying awake in team meetings.


And as for his 'Pants putting on' skills, well......

 

[The_Reaper]

I don't think he's really left them in the lurch at all. If his heart isn't in the game, I'm not sure it is in Victoria's best interests to have a guy play another 20-30 full days of cricket for pittance.

A shame he didn't get more of a chance to prove his quality, but spots probably opened up in the side when he was at the wrong age to fill them. A great player for Victoria, and I don't think the way he exited will have any impact on my memory of him.

I agree with this.
Has given Victoria a good chance to get games into a young player such as Hill

 

[DeadlyAkkuret]

Haha. No worries pal, I thought you were just basing your opinions on what other people had written in this thread.

Why would I do that?

 

[Zvim]

Poor Hodge, had the misfortune to be born a Victorian and be good at cricket.

 

[Kim Hagdorn]

Decent state player just wasn't up to playing at international level.

 

[Zvim]

Decent state player just wasn't up to playing at international level.

Yet only Ponting has the same average and a marginally higher strike rate of all the batsmen in the current side.

Hodge: 55.88 average, 52.12 strike rate

Current test side:
Watson 26.15 avg, 47.06 sr
Katich 44.02 avg, 49.94 sr
Ponting 55.88 avg, 59.41 sr
Hussey 52.85 avg, 48.22 sr
Clarke 49.24 avg, 53,28 sr
North 50.50 avg, 48.23 sr

Hodge is 34, Watson 28, Katich 34, Ponting 34, Hussey 34, Clarke 28 and North 30. It is not like age was a major stumbling block.

Of the 6 matches he played, 3 wins vs the West Indies and 2 wins and a draw against South Africa.

 

[Kim Hagdorn]

His average is pumped up because of the 203 no on the most lifeless wicket that the WACA has ever seen and Ponting should have declared on him 50 runs earlier if he had the balls (and apparently the guy has a personal issue and conspiracy against him which stopped him from being selected). He was a failure at Test level and was given plenty of chances at ODIs and was crap in them as well.

 

[likka]

When you've got someone as useless as Hussey ATM still holding down a test spot it really makes a mockery of the selection process.

Yesterday Hussey was embarrassing (again) on an Adelaide road against a very ordinary attack.

I'd rather see Hodge promoted to the team temporarily until Ferg is fit again... Hussey has been a major factor is series losses against India, SA and England and doesn't deserve his spot.

 

[Zvim]

His average is pumped up because of the 203 no on the most lifeless wicket that the WACA has ever seen and Ponting should have declared on him 50 runs earlier if he had the balls (and apparently the guy has a personal issue and conspiracy against him which stopped him from being selected). He was a failure at Test level and was given plenty of chances at ODIs and was crap in them as well.

Doesn't explain why North, Ponting and Hussey couldn't manage a decent score on a dead and lifeless adelaide pitch. We were outscored in the first innings by arguably the worst test side going around.

Hodge at least made his 203 not out against a side that was fighting for the #1 test side position during that series. We had not lost a test or a series in which he played and have filled his position with guys that haven't done any better and guys who perform inferior than him during the shield get promoted over him.

 

[Blues_Man]

Ahh and Ricky Ponting is such angel. Don't remember Hodge getting a black eye in a pub.

Hodge is a tool who has probably been given a smack in the gob a few times in his life .

Ponting is one of the best players to ever play International cricket ..it's like comparing Chris Judd with Cain Ackland.

Even his timing of retiring smacks of a self obsessed knob.

 

[LondonCalling]

What's the bet a top order bat falls over with an injury over the summer, leading to someone like Moises Henriques getting a cap, now?

Oh dear.....

 

[adii_7]

hodge is australia's best batsmen

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Why are people making him out to be some kind of martyr? He didn't "stand up to the establishment", he was just a loudmouthed spanner with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement.

To a degree I don't blame him for being bitter, but there's plenty of others who've been screwed around by selectors without having a whinge any time a journo cared to listen. Best thing CV ever did was passing him over for the captaincy in favour of White.

Exactly...which is why all the anti Hodge bile on this board is just that and I think it's a massive

By all means bag Hodge for saying he SHOULD have not been so bitter and such a knob etc (I would say that too), but if all of us had been in the same situation 99 % of us would have reacted the same way, it's human nature. So Hodge bagging = hypocrisy in my book.

I will agree with you on one thing though....White was the better choice for captain. Much more of a team man, and far less insular, and hence better for the job.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

With all due respect he hasn't been Robinson Crusoe in recent times when it comes to having a word in the media about not getting picked.

Nathan Bracken and Ashley Noffke are two that spring to mind.

The bottom line is, I believe anyway, that with so many cricketers at first class level in this country capable of playing at international level, but with only so many spots to go around, there always has to be other factors aside from ability and even form when it comes to choosing who gets in and who misses out.

I mean look at Chris Rogers. He walks into a cricket ground these days for a 4 day game and 50 or 60 runs jump out at him. There would have been only a handful of digs at FC level, both here and in England, where he hasn't made a score in the last 18 months. He would walk into any other international side right now.

But because it's common knowledge he's a bit of an arseh*le, as i've said on other threads, he could average 200 for the next 5 years and i'm still a better chance of getting picked to play for Australia than him.

When competition for spots is so hot, these are often the deciding factors.

Brad Hodge would have played minimum 80 tests for any other international side in the world. Unfortunately for him, he is an Aussie, and others had been anointed ahead of him.

Based on what? The only evidence I can see for Rogers being an "arseh*le" is "complaining". In any case, thats the most ridiculous selection criteria I've ever heard.

 

[dr nick]

Don't know if it happens so much now (but I suspect it does), but when Steve Waugh was captain he did have a no ********s policy. He wasn't interested in a team of individuals. Slater, Bevan, Elliott and Warne he was always against, although Warne forced his way back into the side after he was dropped by Waugh (who was acting as one of the touring selectors) in the 1999 Windies tour.

 

[LondonCalling]

As true as it was, its quite ironic given that no other player in recent test history played for himself more than Steve Waugh...