Australian veteran Brad Hodge earns surprise T20 recall

Sydney Veteran batsman Brad Hodge thought his Australia career was long gone before his surprise callup for the remainder of the Twenty20 series against England The 39yearold has not played for Australia for six years but has been was handed a recall after Moises Henriques was called up as injury cover for the tour of South AfricaBrad HodgeHodge is the leading runscorer in the history of Twenty20 cricket and has roamed the world as a shortgame specialist in recent years A sheer weight of runs and solid form in this years Big Bash League with the unbeaten Melbourne Stars has prompted a welcomed return to the international stageI never thought this day would happen again he said I never gave up the hope of trying to achieve what I wanted to and that was to play for Australia I guess I felt if things werent going to happen before they certainly werent going to happen now It was a nice pleasant surpriseThe righthanders selection came as such a shock that he had been planning to spend the week continuing renovation work on the family home I woke up and was expecting to do some work on a building site this morning he said I still had to finish that job before I came hereIm reconstructing my house so theres odd jobs that need to be done Its good for keeping the strength up around cricket season Ive been moving a few bricks digging a few holes its part and parcel of the dayAustralias selectors have been content to pick older players in recent times with 36yearold opener Chris Rogers vindicating their faith as he led the Ashes whitewash from the top of the order Legspinner Brad Hogg was also called upon at the last World Twenty20 at the ripe age of 41 Theres no stop sign if you get to a certain age which is nice for us elder statesman I suppose Hodge saidIts a testament to the selection panel They go it 100 per cent right with Chris Rogers Im a little bit overwhelmed because it is such a surprise after a number of years I put my hand out and say thank you to the selectors and the new regime that is welcoming usWeve been contributing to cricket for a long time now Its a nice little reward Hodge has not been told by coach Darren Lehmann whether he will come straight into Australias weakened lineup on Friday at the MCG his home groundIf he does Hodge admits selection to the World Twenty20 would suddenly become a possibility especially after spending a couple of seasons in the Bangladesh Premier League with the BarisalBurners My leadup was Big Bash and IPL but I guess that will have to change a little bit now he saidIt has certainly become a realistic possibility if not a goal to play at the World Twenty20 Experience might work for me because Ive played in Bangladesh a couple of times before I feel like I can contribute with any side I play forJames Faulkner faces a race against time to be fit for the World Twenty20 which starts in Bangladesh on March 16 after undergoing knee surgery on Tuesday The allrounders injury paved the way for Hodges call after he was forced out of the South Africa tourFaulkner is set to see the surgeon again on Friday morning to confirm how long he is likely to be on the sidelines but suggested the World Twenty20 remained in his plans Yeah it is he saidIve got to do everything I can to give myself a chance of coming back when I want to come back If I dont get that opportunity Ill have to cop it sweet Ill find out my fate in the first week or soHopefully its good news rather than bad news Faulkner said the operation was done to tidy up some floating cartilage in his knee but refused to be downbeat about missing out on playing against the worlds topranked Test nationI wouldnt say Im unlucky Ive had a pretty good run in the last 12 months or so he said I got to play cricket for my country and win a lot of games as well Ive got to look at the positives Ive got a couple of weeks on the sidelines now to get myself up and running and try and make the cut for the World Cup squad