Who is Kavem Hodge? 5 interesting facts about all-rounder set to debut in 1st AUS vs WI Test

Batting all-rounder Kavem Hodge is set to realize his dreams of playing Tests for the West Indies in the series opener against Australia in Adelaide, starting on January 17.

The absence of first-choice all-rounders Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers opened the door for Hodge, with the West Indies confirming his inclusion in the playing XI for the first Test. With loads of first-class experience, the Dominican-born cricketer impressed in the practice match against Cricket Australia XI, scoring 52 and 99 to help the West Indians earn a hard-fought draw.

The ease of Hodge's batting, especially off the backfoot, confirmed his spot in the West Indies playing XI, as they look to combat the likes of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood.

Having played for the West Indies Under-19 squad in the 2012 World Cup, the 30-year-old has endured a long wait to represent the nation in the whites.

As we look ahead to Kavem Hodge's Test debut at Adelaide, here are five interesting things about the all-rounder.

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#1 Kavem Hodge was part of the West Indies Test squad for the Bangladesh series in 2021

Kavem Hodge was extremely close to playing for the West Indies back in 2021 when he was part of the Test squad for the tour of Bangladesh.

With the pitches in Bangladesh tailormade for spinners, his left-arm spin and middle-order batting were seen tailormade for the conditions. Yet, the then-27-year-old did not feature in both Tests as the Caribbean side preferred the off-spinning all-rounder Rahkeem Cornwall and specialist left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican.

The first Test of that series saw the West Indies pull off a memorable fourth-innings run chase of 395 with three wickets in hand. It led to them going with a similar bowling combination for the second Test, which they won by 17 runs to triumph 2-0 in the series.

Despite being part of the squad then, the wait for another opportunity in the Test setup has taken three long years for Hodge.

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#2 Became only the second Dominican cricketer to play ODIs for West Indies

It is not commonplace to see players from Dominica represent the West Indies in any of the formats. The post-2000s saw cricketers like Adam Sanford and Shane Shillingford at least play Tests in addition to a handful of others pre-turn of the century.

Yet, Dominican cricketers were not fortunate enough to play white-ball cricket for the West Indies until Kavem Hodge and Alick Athanaze broke the jinx. The duo were part of the West Indian ODI squad for the three-match series against U.A.E at Sharjah in June last year.

Although the 30-year did not set the stage on fire, scoring only 26 runs and picking up two wickets in the three games, it was a breakthrough moment for Dominican cricket.

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#3 Was part of the Darren Lehmann Academy in the same batch as Joe Root

Kavem Hodge was part of the Darren Lehmann Academy in Adelaide as a 17-year-old. On a full three-month scholarship at the academy, Hodge was part of the same batch as England superstar Joe Root.

Soon after, Root debuted for England in all formats and has become one of the most accomplished batters of this generation. The former England captain has scored almost 18,000 runs with 46 centuries.

Interestingly, Hodge's cricketing hero was Sachin Tendulkar over Brian Lara, an uncommon opinion among budding West Indian players.

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#4 Integral part of the Winward Islands squad that was runner-up in the 2023 West Indies Championship

Windward Islands pipped the more fancied sides to finish second in the 2023 West Indies Championship, the nation's prominent four-day competition.

Kavem Hodge played a pivotal role with bat and ball in the side's ascend to the top two. The 30-year-old scored 387 runs in the five games at an average of 38.70 with a century and two half-centuries.

Hodge also picked up five wickets with the ball, and his all-round performances helped the Windward Islands remain unbeaten in the tournament with three wins and two draws.

It also led to the ambidextrous cricketer (bats right and bowls left) being at the doorsteps of the West Indian Test squad, which has finally come to fruition. Hodge has over 2,700 runs and 55 wickets in first-class cricket, with four centuries with the bat and a five-wicket haul with the ball.

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#5 Leading run-scorer for the Windward Islands in back-to-back seasons

Kavem Hodge came into the limelight in West Indian cricket when he led all scorers from the Windward Islands squad in the Super50 Cup in 2018/19 and 2019/20.

While he scored 179 runs at an average of 35.80 in 2018/19, the right-handed batter took the next step in the following season. Hodge scored 341 runs at an average of 48.71 in seven games and was the overall tenth-leading run-scorer of the season.

Of the three formats, the all-rounder has found his comfort zone the most in the 50-over arena in domestic cricket. Hodge boasts a List-A batting average of almost 29 and a bowling average under 30, with two centuries and as many four-wicket hauls in 55 outings.