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“Brutal” was how Kavem Hodge characterised his struggle with Mark Wood, but he added that it only made him feel more satisfied after his first-ever Test century gave the West Indies a chance to respond on day two of the second game of the series against England in Nottingham.
Playing in his fourth Test match, 31-year-old Hodge stated that reaching a century was “a dream come true” after questioning whether he would ever get a chance to play at the highest level. West Indies were able to close on 351 for 5 thanks to his innings of 120, the most of which was shared with fellow Dominican Alick Athanaze in a partnership of 175 that may have placed pressure on England.
“It’s a dream come true, you play the game from a youngster growing up that’s something that you want to do, especially at the highest level, in England against England,” he said. “I’m really happy and satisfied about it, especially also the position of the team, it’s always good to help the team’s cause.”
Hodge overcame an afternoon short-ball test from England’s attack, which was spearheaded by Wood. Of the 29 balls that Wood threw at Hodge, 24 were short or not long enough, and most of them were hitting over 90 mph.
“It was brutal,” Hodge said. “It’s not every day you rock up and you face someone that’s bowling more than 90mph every single ball. There was one point, I made a joke to him, I said: ‘Hey, I have a wife and kids at home.’ But I think that made the century a lot more satisfying. Test cricket is brutal, it’s challenging, it’s mentally draining. To experience that, facing guys like Mark Wood, it was tough but it was satisfying.”
As Hodge skillfully ducked and weaved and put away multiple boundaries on the pull, Wood smacked Athanaze in the helmet, evoking a theatrical reaction from his batting partner.
“I flinched. I thought I was going to get hit before him but it didn’t happen like that. But kudos to him that he bounced back well and was able to stand his ground and push on further.
“We always bat good together, play for the same franchise back home, we’ve had a lot of big partnerships,” Hodge added. “He’s more aggressive than I am, I’m more of an accumulator, so I tend to go under the radar and go about my business quietly. Always good to spend time with him at the wicket.”
The first Test at Lord’s, which lasted barely seven sessions, saw the West Indies dismissed twice for less than 150, raising the prospect of being written off as a genuine opponent. However, Hodge stated that the tourists were happy to have assisted in capitalising under more favourable circumstances and that they had been focused on learning from their mistakes.
“It was a matter of staying positive, we’re not the only team who have lost a Test match two days. It’s just a matter of learning from it, the conditions are new for a lot of us – this is my first time to England, so it’s just a matter of learning quickly, adapting to conditions and finding ways to improve. And when we get the opportunity to bat, take it deep. As we’ve seen, it was a very good batting wicket, so it was imperative that once we got the opportunity we stay in, dig deep and put our team in a good position.”