MANY questions have arisen from the increasingly uncertain sporting environment on the sub-continent, including one from left-field with a local slant: if Brad Hodge isn't playing for Kolkata in next month's Indian Premier League, could he be batting at three for Victoria in the Sheffield Shield final?
Hodge chuckled at the suggestion yesterday, seeing it as a bridge he would cross if and when needed. He reaffirmed that he is no longer a first-class cricketer, and is well aware how his coming out of retirement in pursuit of one last title might be viewed - not least by the unfortunate Bushranger he would edge out of the team.
Yet if the IPL does not proceed due to the threat of terrorism, and cannot be relocated at short notice, Victoria could confront the absurd situation of playing for back-to-back shields with its games record-holder and highest runscorer watching from the stands.
''I guess I retired for a reason - because of commitments like the IPL and the commitment I've got to play Twenty20 in England, and those were taking me away from my family,'' Hodge said yesterday.
''If I wasn't away from my family for seven weeks then I would consider it, but I wouldn't want to put anyone out of place. The travelling's the reason I gave four-day cricket away. I'd only do it if Victoria asked me to, put it that way.''
The Vics were understandably coy about flying kites yesterday, cricket operations manager Shaun Graf saying there was no point dealing in hypotheticals until the IPL was definitely in jeopardy. He admitted it would present ''a unique situation'' for team management to digest.
''At this point in time he's retired, just like (Dirk) Nannes is retired from four-day cricket, and that's how we've got to view it,'' Graf said. ''But in cricket these days, it's changing so rapidly, anything can happen.''
Hodge cannot be in Sydney this morning for the meeting with Australian Cricketer's Association chief executive Paul Marsh, at which IPL-contracted players will learn the contents of a report from security consultant Reg Dickason. But like all of the 22 Australians who have signed for the Twenty20 tournament, Hodge is eagerly awaiting advice on what happens next.
The freelance nature of the IPL presents cricketers with the conundrum of having to tackle decisions that would normally be made for them. Many would doubtless be relieved to see the tournament moved elsewhere - such as South Africa, which hosted it last year in the wake of bombings in Mumbai.
But with IPL boss Lalit Modi and the international players association at loggerheads, and only 16 days left before Hodge's Kolkata Knight Riders are due to open the tournament against Adam Gilchrist's Deccan Chargers, a protracted game of ''who blinks first'' could be disastrous.
Meanwhile, Victoria rolls on towards another final. Yesterday, as the Bushrangers' top order contended with Queensland's seam bowlers and a typically tricky first-day Gabba wicket, Hodge was picking up son Jesse from kindergarten, then strolling home to join wife Megan and daughter Sophie for lunch.
That the star Victorian batsman of his era could yet be there should his beloved state, as expected, reach the first-class decider from March 17-21 is a long-shot.
But, in cricket, nothing is impossible.
