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Hodge gets his hit but the end is nigh

Adelaide Strikers veteran indicates BBL|06 will be his final act as a player, confident of strong campaign with the bat

After a mind-blowing 23 years playing domestic cricket in Australia, Brad Hodge has a feeling that the 2016-17 season may well be his last.

But despite being less than two weeks away from his 42nd birthday, the veteran still believes he can match it with some of the best players in the world and says as long as he's performing out in the middle, he'll never say never to yet another year in the game.

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The Adelaide Strikers captain likens playing in the KFC Big Bash League for just six weeks of the year to "a little bit of a drug, a little high" that fuels his competitive nature, but doesn't wear him down.

It's kept his love of the game well and truly alive, a fire that has seen him turn out for his beloved Melbourne club side East Sandringham once again this season, an unconventional but effective tune up for one of the world's biggest T20 tournaments.

And while he jokes that the number of extra grey hairs he picks up during the upcoming KFC Big Bash League will determine whether or not he will go around again next season, he says as long as the runs keep coming, he's a chance to keep playing.

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"I normally go over to the mirror and see how many hairs have gone (grey) from the last year," Hodge tells cricket.com.au with a cheeky grin. "And if there's more this year, maybe it will be (my last season).

"We'll have to see. I'd imagine so, but you never know.

"I've got a really good feeling that I'm going to have a really good, fun Big Bash this year.

"My form is good; I've been playing for East Sandy on the mats. What better preparation than playing on a Saturday on a synthetic pitch with a two-piece ball? That's something the administrators are missing, not having that in this tournament.

"We'll have to see. It's such a great, fun tournament to be involved in so I'd never say never."

The word that Hodge uses over and over again during the interview is "fun". More than anything else, that's what the Big Bash is to him.

It's an attitude that has helped to extend his playing career as he transitions into coaching, a change that has already seen him lead the Gujarat Lions in the Indian Premier League as well as the Cricket Australia XI as recently as last week against Pakistan.

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And what a playing career it's been; in addition to the six Tests - which included a double hundred - and 40 limited-overs internationals he played for his country, Hodge has racked up almost 700 games and more than 33,000 runs at domestic level in just about every cricket-loving country on earth.

He is the shortest format's most successful ever run-scorer bar one; West Indian Chris Gayle has 9777 career T20 runs to his name, with Hodge in second place on 7052, just ahead of Brisbane Heat skipper Brendon McCullum on 6955.

It's a career that's spanned three decades, so long that five of Hodge's Strikers teammates - Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Billy Stanlake, Wes Agar and Kelvin Smith - weren't even born when his career began on October 17, 1993.

But the BBL, in which he's played all five seasons so far for three different franchises, has made him feel young again.

"The good thing about T20s is you don't have to go through the full year of what happens in this dressing room," he says.

"(Playing full-time) you've got to roll up, you've got to do weights, you've got to train, then the ice bath and you fluff around all day with that rubbish.

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"For me, I come in, I train purposely as hard as I can for 14 days, play, and that's it.

"It's a little bit of a drug, a little high. It's a good fun time, I love being involved and I really look forward to it.

"My thoughts on playing are if you can't make an impact, then don't play.

"If I can't do what I have to do on the field, then I'll walk off and pack it in. But I'm still very confident that I can get the job done out in the middle."

As much as he loves returning to his roots in club land, Hodge is fully aware that playing 'on the mats with East Sandy' is a few rungs below facing some of the quickest bowlers on the planet in the Big Bash.

But just like he's been ever since the mid-1990s, he’s prepared for whatever is thrown his way.

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"Your body is moving in sync the way a cricketer has to do and your feet are moving," he says of how grade cricket plays a role in preparing him for the top level again.

"When I come over here (to Adelaide), I really sharpen my senses up.

"As much as I don't want to, I try and face Billy Stanlake and Kane Richardson in the nets, the guys that are on the high side of ball speed, just so ... when you come up against Pat Cummins or Mitchell Johnson, it's not a shock to the system.

"One-thirty (kilometres an hour) is fine, 135 is fine. But 140 and above, for most people they struggle.

"And when you haven't seen it for a while, you need to make sure it's not a shock to the system."

And then, just to emphasise Hodge's approach to possibly the final act of his brilliant playing career, he adds with a smile: "but the faster they bowl, the harder you swing".

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