VICTORIAN batsman Brad Hodge has accused Australian selectors of giving away baggy green caps "for free" and blasted them for talking a load of rubbish.
In a blistering attack on Andrew Hilditch's selection panel, Hodge said he was glad to have played his six Tests in a great Australian cricket era rather than now, when almost anyone gets a cap.
"I'd rather have achieved what I did among that group of players in that era than achieving it now when it seems, in my mind, that they're giving caps away for free," Hodge said.
Hodge, who was dropped two weeks after scoring a Test double century against South Africa in 2005, said he could not understand how 36 players had worn the baggy green cap in the past four years.
Since January 2005, there have been 27 Test caps handed out by selectors but debutants often receive only a match or two to prove themselves.
The number of spinners Australia has tried after Shane Warne will reach 10 if Michael Beer makes his Test debut in Perth on Thursday.
It seems just about every first-class cricketer is within reach of a Test call-up.
"It makes you feel annoyed," said Hodge, now retired from first-class cricket.
"You give a guy 10 innings, he's going to get a hundred. It's the law of averages. If you get enough shots, you'll eventually score some runs.
"In terms of the current selections, I'm not sure what people are seeing, why they're seeing something special when they watch those innings. I don't get that.
"It is a relief that I won't be trying to please other people to get to the highest level and make runs. I've made them.
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