Hodge out of his comfort zone

Brad Hodge's decision to turn his back on a 20-year career in Victoria and play out his twilight years with Adelaide can be, in part, attributed to advice from incumbent national coach Darren Lehmann.

Hodge today confirmed he will turn out for the Adelaide Strikers in the KFC T20 Big Bash League for the next two seasons as well as lend his expertise to the South Australian franchise as a coaching assistant to his former Victorian teammate and long-time friend Darren Berry.

But it was a phone call to Lehmann earlier this year that convinced Hodge the time was right to leave the comfortable familiarity of Melbourne – where he began his celebrated career in 1993 – and pursue new opportunities in a fresh environment.

The 39-year-old, whose previous major move was to depart the BBL's Melbourne Renegades for their cross-town rivals the Stars, has been weighing up whether coaching or cricket administration might best occupy his post-playing days.

During Australia's Test tour of South Africa last February, Hodge phoned Lehmann – who himself quit South Australia to pursue his coaching ambitions in Brisbane – to learn more about the steps he had taken to make the transition from long-serving batsman to successful international coach.

"He (Lehmann) said 'if you are really considering a life in cricket along this high performance line then by all means go and test it out," Hodge told cricket.com.au today.

"He said 'you know Victoria through and through, you know how it runs and know how it works, so go and see something in a different environment'.

"He also talked to me about his own experience in India (with coaching in the Indian Premier League), the experience of Brisbane and he thought it was a wise idea if I wanted to go down that path."

Hodge says he doesn't yet know if he wants to follow Lehmann into coaching.

Indeed, he still can't foresee a time when he's not playing cricket at the top level even though he will turn 40 a couple of weeks after he makes his debut for the Strikers against his former franchise the Stars in the BBL 04 season opener at Adelaide Oval on December 18.

"I've been asked this question a number of times over the last five years and my answer is it's pretty much infinite at the moment," Hodge said when quizzed as to how many years of top-flight cricket he had left in him.

"In reality, I would have thought I was going to retire at the age of 33, I just thought for some reason that's what sports people do.

"But myself, for some reason I've got an inner burning ambition to keep going and to be the best in every tournament that I go to, I try to be the best possible player that I can.

"Time and time again I try to lift myself up … and I'm not sure how long that's going to last for but I certainly know I'll be here this season and next season and it will be all guns blazing in both those seasons for sure."

But it was during recent stints with the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL that people whose opinion he respects – including former Indian Test batsman and Royals's captain Rahul Dravid as well as Rajasthan's South African coach Paddy Upton – suggested coaching would be a good fit for him.

It echoed earlier endorsements he had received from Victorian coach Greg Shipperd, and when an opportunity to build on his role as a batting coach with the Stars for the past two years came along with the Strikers he knew it was too good an opportunity to let slip.

"It was a big decision, and we always like to be safe in our little environment," Hodge said when asked what had sealed the deal that he signed with the Strikers 10 days ago.

"I know it's an easy drive from (his Melbourne home in the bay-side suburb of) Black Rock to the MCG but I think if you want to venture out into the cricket world you have to learn different things.

"And it was wise for me to make this choice knowing full well there will be a life after cricket and I need to learn some different things for myself if I want to go into the coaching or administration world.

"The opportunities to be an assistant coach and to play weren't there at the (Melbourne) Stars and this was an opportunity that made me step up, have a look and make a pretty good decision."

Also not lost on Hodge, the most prolific runs scorer in the history of the BBL to date and second-highest in the world in all T20 competitions, was the fact that he boasts a pretty handy record at the Adelaide Oval.

Since making his Bupa Sheffield Shield debut at the ground as an 18-year-old in 1993, in a Victorian team that included his childhood hero Dean Jones, Shane Warne and Berry and with Lehmann as an opponent, Hodge averaged more than 55 in 14 Shield appearances in Adelaide including five centuries.

He believes he can continue that form with the Strikers, and it's difficult to doubt it's feasible given he was recalled to the Australian line-up after an absence of almost six years for the ICC World T20 championships in Bangladesh earlier this year.

But despite the most high-profile cross-border cricket defector since Lehmann made the brief move to Melbourne a quarter of a century ago, Hodge cannot foresee his doting Victorian fans turning on him should he return to the MCG clad in the blue of the Adelaide Strikers.

"I don't think it will happen," Hodge said when asked if he had prepared himself for the possibility of a hostile reception at a ground where for so long he's been revered.

"I think if they (Victorian crowds) boo me it will be a recognition of skill and expertise – that's the way I'd see it.

"Only good players get booed, so we'll wait and see.

"I'm a Melbourne person of course, and always be through and through Victorian – that's never going to change.

"But come first (BBL|04) game I'll be trying to knock them out of the park."