Kavem Hodge’s back foot strokeplay defies England on Day 2

Kavem Hodge was one of the seven uncapped players picked in West Indies’ 15-man squad to tour Australia earlier this year. He was the oldest of the lot and thus must have been under pressure to justify his selection. The right-hander stepped up on Day 1 of the Gabba Test. Scoring 71 against Australia’s full-strength bowling attack, he laid the foundation for West Indies’ series-leveling win. 

The narrative wasn’t much different in his second Test of the series against England. West Indies were brushed aside in the first Test, bowled out twice under 90 overs. The head coach, Andre Coley had asked his team to take inspiration from the Gabba win. 

Hodge certainly heard the call with his first Test hundred, scoring 120 off 171 balls, becoming only the second Test cricketer from Dominica to amass a hundred in whites for West Indies. 

The conditions at Trent Bridge were much easier for batting. The dry and flat pitch further blunted the sharpness in England’s bowling attack. However, they still posed a threat with Mark Wood twice breaking the record for the quickest over by an England seamer at home and Gus Atkinson fresh from a 12-wicket haul on debut. Hodge walked in at 84/3, with West Indies losing three wickets for 31 runs. 

There were a few hurdles to overturn for Hodge in only his fourth Test. 

He had a quiet start, scoring only five from his first 30 balls. He played the off-spinner Shoaib Bashir cautiously, taking only three off his 18 balls. He was dropped by Joe Root at the first slip when he was 16 off 54 balls. 

However, Hodge picked up as the innings went on and almost batted at a run-a-ball in one phase. Having started slow against Bashir, he ended up milking him for 37 from 52 balls against him.

But the highlight of his ton was his strokeplay against the fast bowlers. England operated heavily in the short and the back-of-a-length region, with field plenty of fielders in the deep and in catching positions inside the ring. Hodge countered him as if England were feeding him on his strength. 

The 31-year-old hammered 58 runs off 42 balls he played against the England seamers on the back foot. He scored 60% of his runs square of the wicket on either side, pulling and driving the ball in those regions in abundance. On the front foot, his strike rate was only 38.4. 

Hodge forged a 175-run stand with Alick Athanaze for the fourth wicket and contributed 86 off 133 balls to it. Once Hodge found his mojo, the duo piled on 65 runs in a space of 10 overs. It was Bazball against Bazball from the most unlikely corner of the cricketing world. Both Hodge and Athanaze come from Dominica, an island with only a handful of Test cricketers in the past. 

Later on, in another crucial 46-run partnership with Jason Holder, Hodge contributed 34 from 38 deliveries, once again highlighting his accelerating arc in the innings.

Between Hodge’s arrival and departure, West Indies moved from 84/3 to 305/5, eventually closing the day at 351/5, trailing by 65 runs. Once he completed his hundred, Hodge jumped in delight to celebrate. However, he had to jump higher to hug Holder. 

The delight was quite apparent on his face to notch up his maiden ton in front of the most Test match-loving crowds in world cricket.  "I told Jason I was still pinching myself after the celebration, I hadn't grasped it yet," Hodge told Sky sports after the day's play.

When everyone expected the Windies to implode again, Hodge, flaunting his strokeplay on the back foot stood up for the Caribbean resilience. 

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