Cricket ace turned motorsport commentator Brad Hodge revealed to the On the Grid podcast his behind the scenes efforts to assist in the rebuilding program at Erebus Motorsport for 2021.

Hodge, a highly decorated cricketer for Australia and in T20 competitions the world over, also has extensive experience from a coaching standpoint, including in the Indian Premier League, for sides such as the Gujarat Lions and Kings XI.

For Hodge, there are lessons learned from his years of cricket that are transferrable to elite motorsport.

“I’ve actually done some studies, and I think that there are three sports that are pretty close – cricket, motorsport and cycling, and the reason I say that is that it is actually a team sport, but really, it’s individual,” said Hodge.

“Like cricket, you walk out, you mark centre, and you’re the person out in the middle of the MCG who has to get the job done, similar to motorsport where behind the scenes all of the work is getting done, the preparation, the planning, and all of a sudden it is all on the driver to get the job done on race day.

“It’s the same with cycling, and it’s those people who are out in the middle in cricket, motorsport and cycling, where the ego takes control, and you’ve got a centralised person within the team.

“The interesting thing that I’ve found listening to people within the (pit) lane is how competitive they are with their teammate.

“I found that really interesting, that the person who is within the garage are the ones they want to beat, and I’m like, no man, you want to beat the guys on the right-hand side of the garage and the left, collaborate all of your information to make sure that you move the bar (higher for each other).

“I said to them, that as competitive as Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith are, they might want to be the best in the world, but if they are one and two, they really don’t care, they just want to be the best that they can possibly be.”

Hodge has a previous connection with the Erebus squad, dating back to last year’s Celebrity Eseries event, where he trained on the team’s simulator.

“As to how I’ve given my time, I’m actually at the moment as we speak running through a few things with Erebus Motorsport, just to fine-tune a few things,” said Hodge.

“As you know, they’ve had a bit of a rough trot last year and going through into this year, so I’m just trying to streamline a few high-performance items, and just to simplify things, and hopefully it transfers into a couple of young guys on track, helping them out.

“I can see plenty of things in motorsport where someone who has lots of experience in teams can help out; it’s an interesting space for sure.”

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