Brad is back!

Date: Monday 11 January 2010

Leicestershire CCC today confirmed that Brad Hodge has signed a contract for the 2010 Twenty20 competition.

Hodge, who was a firm favourite at Grace Road during two successful seasons with the club in 2003 and 2004, makes a welcome return to the fold for the Friends Provident Twenty20 tournament in 2010.

The prolific Australian batsman, who guided the side to a final win against Surrey Lions at Edgbaston in 2004 against Surrey with a fabulous unbeaten 77, scored 524 runs in 13 T20 matches in 2003 and 2004 at an average of 43.66.

Hodge was also awesome in the longer form of the game, where he notched 3043 runs in 51 knocks at an outstanding average of 62.10. He also held the club record score at one point following a brilliant unbeaten 302 against Notts at Trent Bridge.

He also bowls useful off-breaks and is excellent in the field. Leicestershire Chief Executive David Smith is delighted with the signing.

He said: “I am delighted that Brad is returning to Leicestershire CCC, having played in the Twenty20 cup winning team of 2004. He knows the club well having spent the seasons 2003 and 2004 at Grace Road.

“His Twenty20 record is outstanding. He is the world's leading run scorer having scored over 2,300 runs in 73 matches, as well as taking 31 wickets.

“Brad plays in the Indian Premier League, and recently represented his Australian state side Victoria in the Champions League earlier this year.

“At 35 years of age, Brad will bring a wealth of experience to next summer’s Twenty20 campaign for Leicestershire. We are delighted to have him on board.

Hodge is the fifth recent Leicestershire signing along side his Victorian team mate and Australian Test match all rounder Andrew McDonald, who is Leicestershire’s overseas player for the 2010 cricket season.

The club has also signed England bowler Matthew Hoggard along with Will Jefferson and James Benning.

Smith confirmed that he believed the squad had been “significantly strengthened” by these recent signings.

He added: “Victoria were one of the stand-out sides in the inaugural Twenty20 Champions League competition.

“Both Brad and Andrew made significant contributions throughout their campaign and this experience can only benefit everyone at Leicestershire CCC.

"We are still totally committed to producing players through our development system, but it is important we have the right balance between senior and younger players.

"It was always our intention to bring new players into the club, however we had to wait for players to finish contracts and move on before being able to add to the squad”.