Brad Hodge has quietly ended his one-day domestic career.
THE only thing that will prevent Brad Hodge from leading the one-day cup runs tally for a third successive season is the cricketer himself.
The domestic career of Hodge, holder of many batting records in the one-day format, has quietly ended.
Hodge, 37, was destined to miss at least one of Victoria's season-ending 50-over matches, and possibly the final if it qualifies, due to his looming Twenty20 commitments in the new Bangladesh Premier League. He is also hoping to find a new home in the Indian Premier League auction, owing to the disbanding of his Kochi team.
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While the Bushrangers had no qualms about his overseas obligations, he was ready to make his decision midway through the season and leave immediately.
Hodge will still play T20 cricket in Australia but the revamp of the Big Bash League has meant he has played his final match for the Bushrangers, who no longer compete in that format.
His 310 appearances for Victoria across three formats over more than 18 years is a clear record, ahead of Darren Berry with 212.
Hodge leads the domestic one-day records for appearances (139), runs (5597, at an average of 47.03) and centuries (20). The latter is the biggest nod to his quality as it is doubles his nearest rival's tally.
Three of the top seven season run tallies belong to Hodge. Two-thirds of the way through the current season he is again out in front with 312 runs at 52.
That form left head Australian selector John Inverarity defending Hodge's continued exclusion from the national T20 team yesterday. He said a recall was considered but rejected because "we've got a lot of options at the top of the order".
Hodge said yesterday it was "just time to step aside and let some other guys come through".
In a statement he admitted it was hard to let go. But he said: "I don't feel as if this is retirement because retirement for me was when I retired from four-day cricket. This is more like a changing of the guard."
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