After scoring a century against four-time champions, Guyana Jaguars, Montcin Hontcin Hodge believes that more is to come from him.
The 31-year-old Anguillan brought up his second century of the season, only his fourth in first-class cricket against the Jaguars in the fifth round of the Cricket West Indies Regional Four-day Tournament last week where he smashed 14 boundaries on his way to 127.
Hodge said prior to the chase of 291, the captain Kieran Powell wanted someone from the top order to bat for a long period and he decided to put his hand up and go for the long ride.
“Well the meeting we had this morning [on Sunday] about chasing down the total the skipper said one of the batters at the top had to bat through so I took up the mantle to do that for the team,” Hodge told Stabroek Sport.
With the team facing a difficult task, Hodge noted that it was just sticking to the plans that did it for the team while incorporating an aggressive mindset with the attitude of conquering the opponent that did it for his side.
The Leeward Islands Hurricanes opener added that he was never nervous during his innings but was happy to be above the required rate throughout the innings.
Having jumped to the top of the leading run getters, Hodge stated that it is not up to him to decide if he should be selected on the West Indies senior or other representative teams.
However, his efforts, he opined will help in putting pressure on the selectors as he continues to score runs while allowing them to do their job.
Making the difference this season for Hodge was his self-belief as he compared previous seasons to this one.
“Just believe in myself a bit more, I think I wasn’t doing that throughout so I just take the season to believe in myself I didn’t have the best Super50 but I told myself before the tournament I would just back myself to do the job for the team,” Hodge said.
Setting himself to achieve three tons in the tournament, Hodge added that he would welcome any more having scored two already but seeing them as a bonus.
Hodge indicated that he was not the only player to perform, acknowledging the efforts of Rahkeem Cornwall whom he describes as a very good bowler.
“Rahkeem is a very good bowler. Whenever he has the ball in his hands he is backing himself all the time so with our teammates cheering him on, he always looks to come big for the team,” Hodge said.In addition, Hodge commended Jason Peters on his composed cameo that steered Hurricanes home saying “leading his team to victory was a particular honor for me.
“It would mean a lot for the team, a lot of the guys were really ill one of our players’ mom passed away so it will give him a big boost in terms of happiness.”
Hodge added that the momentum from the win will mean a lot to the team heading into the next round which will be played in St. Kitts which will be seen as a home venue for Hurricanes.
