John Hodges

Who was John Hodges?

John Robart Hodges, an Australian cricketer, was born in Knightsbridge, London on 11 August 1855 and is believed to have died on 17 January 1933 in Melbourne, Victoria in his adopted country. The exact details of his death remain unconfirmed but this date is generally accepted by the sport's historians. He is one of the least known Australian players, so meteoric and short was his career. He had the unusual distinction of playing in a Test match before playing for his colony. Therefore, the historic international, played at Melbourne in 1877 between Australia and England, was Hodges' first-class debut.

A left-handed batsman and fast-medium, round-arm bowler, Hodges started playing cricket for the famous Capulets club in the Collingwood district of Victoria. Following some good performances in club cricket, he soon appeared for the Richmond Cricket Club, and later played for Victoria.

His bowling had both pace and movement and occasionally he could swing the ball sharply. But it also lacked consistency and all the good work he showed previously rarely came to the fore in his two representative matches. He bowled too short and was hit about the ground by some of the English batsmen.