Leicestershire complete Hodge coup

Brad Hodge, trophy in hand, captained Leicestershire to the first of their two Twenty20 Cup titles to date, at Edgbaston in 2004

Brad Hodge will return to Leicestershire as their second overseas player for the Friends Provident t20 competition next season.

The 35-year-old former Australia batsman captained the Foxes to the 2004 Twenty20 Cup title, striking an unbeaten 77 in the final against Surrey.

Hodge returns for a third year at Grace Road, having begun his county cricket career with Durham and also spent three years as Lancashire’s overseas player.

He will play alongside fellow Victorian and main overseas signing Andrew McDonald in 2010.

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

“His Twenty20 record is outstanding. He is the world's leading run-scorer (with 2,418 runs in 77 Twenty20 matches).

“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, who last played for Australia in 2008, recently announced he was to retire from first-class cricket in order to spend more time with his family, but it will not preclude him from competing in limited-overs cricket.

Smith also explained the signing of Hodge from a developmental point of view.

"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," he added.

"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."