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Full name Bradley John Hodge
Born December 29, 1974, Sandringham, Victoria
Current age 33 years 140 days
Major teams Australia, Durham, Kolkata Knight Riders, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Victoria
Nickname Hodgey, Dodgeball
Playing role Higher middle order batsman
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak
Height 1.78 m

Batting and fielding averages
	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct
Tests	5	9	2	409	203*	58.42	790	51.77	1	1	47	0	9
ODIs	25	21	2	575	123	30.26	657	87.51	1	3	51	12	16
T20Is	8	5	2	94	36	31.33	77	122.07	0	0	5	3	3
First-class	209	367	37	15895	302*	48.16			48	58			121
List A	214	204	25	7322	164	40.90			19	35			87
Twenty20	50	47	5	1661	106	39.54	1198	138.64	1	11	187	43	24

Bowling averages
	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w
Tests	5	1	12	8	0	-	-	-	4.00	-	0	0
ODIs	25	3	66	51	1	1/17	1/17	51.00	4.63	66.0	0	0
T20Is	8	1	12	20	0	-	-	-	10.00	-	0	0
First-class	209		5175	2881	72	4/17		40.01	3.34	71.8		0
List A	214		1482	1308	38	5/28	5/28	34.42	5.29	39.0	0	1
Twenty20	50	25	396	500	24	4/17	4/17	20.83	7.57	16.5	2	0

Career statistics
Test debut	Australia v West Indies at Hobart, Nov 17-21, 2005 scorecard
Last Test	Australia v South Africa at Sydney, Jan 2-6, 2006 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	New Zealand v Australia at Auckland, Dec 3, 2005 scorecard
Last ODI	India v Australia at Mumbai, Oct 17, 2007 scorecard
ODI statistics
T20I debut	Australia v Zimbabwe at Cape Town, Sep 12, 2007 scorecard
Last T20I	Australia v India at Melbourne, Feb 1, 2008 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut	1993/94
Last First-class	Lancashire v Somerset at Manchester, Apr 23-26, 2008 scorecard
List A debut	1993/94
Last List A	Tasmania v Victoria at Hobart, Feb 23, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	Leicestershire v Yorkshire at Leicester, Jun 16, 2003 scorecard
Last Twenty20	Kolkata Knight Riders v Bangalore Royal Challengers at Kolkata, May 8, 2008 scorecard

Profile

Brad Hodge is still pushing hard to avoid becoming Australian cricket's latest nearly man. When he was dropped with an average of 58.42 only five matches into his Test career in 2005-06 it would have been easy for him to disappear back into the first-class ranks he has dominated for most of his career. "Don't worry, I'll be back," was Hodge's response. He was right, even if he is yet to return to the five-day scene.

In 2006-07 he smashed 765 Pura Cup runs at 85.00 to force himself into the one-day side when Ricky Ponting rested, but two failures put him in danger of immediate demotion until Andrew Symonds suffered an arm injury. His unfortunate streak remained only in that he was stranded on 99 not out when he hit the winning runs against New Zealand and was then one hefty shot out of reach when he posted an unbeaten 97 in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. The performances earned him a spot at the World Cup and he finally grabbed three figures with 123 off 89 balls against the Netherlands. It was his last bat in the tournament and he watched the final from the dressing room, which has become an all-too familiar viewing platform.

Hodge was Australia's unluckiest casualty of the 2005-06 season of batting change. Picked for his first Test in November after being the reserve on tours to India, New Zealand and England, he opened with a fluent 60 and by the end of the home summer had 409 runs at an envious average. Still it wasn't enough to earn a spot on the South Africa trip as the selectors returned to Damien Martyn and Michael Clarke. Included in his five outings was an unbeaten 203 against South Africa in Perth, where he joined his boyhood idol Dean Jones as one of five Australians to make their maiden century a double. Two Tests later, Hodge, a tiny right-hander who is more quiet and laid back than Jones, was dropped amid whispers of a technical flaw against fast bowling, a short drought in the Pura Cup and a selection "judgment call". He picked himself up with a century in the domestic final loss to Queensland, but was again overlooked for the Bangladesh series and had a winter assignment with Lancashire.

A regular and consistent performer for his state and counties, Hodge's Victorian debut came in 1993-94 as an 18-year-old and he almost compiled 1000 runs in the season as he settled quickly at No. 4. The following years were more difficult, but he returned from the dips in form as a more complete player, carrying a classical technique and the ability to direct shots to all parts of the ground. Around consistently impressive one-day returns, Hodge passed the 1000 barrier in the 2000-01 first-class summer when he was a key player in the Bushrangers' march to a second successive Pura Cup final. More of the same output was revealed in 2001-02, when he shared the domestic Player-of-the-Season award with Queensland's Jimmy Maher, and his consistency pushed him towards international honours.

After a brief spell with Durham in 2002, Hodge spent two productive summers at Leicestershire, leading them to a domestic one-day trophy in 2004 and making the county's highest individual score of 302 not out against Nottinghamshire the season before, but moved to Lancashire in 2005. Rewarded with his first Cricket Australia contract in 2004, he was picked for the India tour and considered for the opening Test, but narrowly missed a place taken spectacularly by Clarke. Hodge is again behind Clarke in the pecking order, although with a national deal and an evolving line-up he remains in sight of resuming his short and stunning five-day career.
Cricinfo staff July 2007