Hodge, 34, will play two more Sheffield Shield games before stepping aside after Christmas to devote more time to his family.
"After a number of years weighing up cricket versus family, I reckon family might have won this battle," said Hodge, who has a son, Jesse, 3, and a four-month-old daughter, Sophie.
"I guess it came down to lack of opportunity to play Test cricket again. I was just a fill-in for Ricky Ponting if something went wrong. I guess that wasn't enough of an excuse for me."
Hours after Hodge made his decision, his Bushrangers teammate Clint McKay was named in the Australian Test squad as a replacement for injured quick Ben Hilfenhaus.
Despite averaging 102 in Shield cricket this summer, Hodge said his wife Megan's health issues and the desire to devote more time with his children had become more important than playing Shield cricket with no prospect of higher honours.
"From a cricket perspective I started thinking, `How did Robert Harvey keep going all that time?' " Hodge said.
"I was struggling to find reasons as to why I wanted to play. I've always wanted to play Test cricket for as long as I can. But what's the difference if I get one more Test now? I want to play 30 or more, but that's not going to happen. In my own mind I just didn't want to go through it any more.
"To be honest, I struggled in the contest. The passion to play is not there any more.
"I played (first-class cricket) so I could play for Australia, so I reached the point where I was struggling to work out the reasons why I was still playing."
Hodge has scored 11,278 first-class runs for Victoria at an average of 47.39 to eclipse his childhood hero Dean Jones (9622 runs at 54.05).
Hodge will continue to play the shorter forms of the game for Victoria and in the Indian Premier League.
"In a way it's a way to lengthen my career rather than shorten it. It's my last-ditch effort to make the Australian World Cup Twenty20 side," he said.
"After a number of years weighing up cricket versus family, I reckon family might have won this battle," said Hodge, who has a son, Jesse, 3, and a four-month-old daughter, Sophie.
"I guess it came down to lack of opportunity to play Test cricket again. I was just a fill-in for Ricky Ponting if something went wrong. I guess that wasn't enough of an excuse for me."
Hours after Hodge made his decision, his Bushrangers teammate Clint McKay was named in the Australian Test squad as a replacement for injured quick Ben Hilfenhaus.
Despite averaging 102 in Shield cricket this summer, Hodge said his wife Megan's health issues and the desire to devote more time with his children had become more important than playing Shield cricket with no prospect of higher honours.
"From a cricket perspective I started thinking, `How did Robert Harvey keep going all that time?' " Hodge said.
"I was struggling to find reasons as to why I wanted to play. I've always wanted to play Test cricket for as long as I can. But what's the difference if I get one more Test now? I want to play 30 or more, but that's not going to happen. In my own mind I just didn't want to go through it any more.
"To be honest, I struggled in the contest. The passion to play is not there any more.
"I played (first-class cricket) so I could play for Australia, so I reached the point where I was struggling to work out the reasons why I was still playing."
Hodge has scored 11,278 first-class runs for Victoria at an average of 47.39 to eclipse his childhood hero Dean Jones (9622 runs at 54.05).
Hodge will continue to play the shorter forms of the game for Victoria and in the Indian Premier League.
"In a way it's a way to lengthen my career rather than shorten it. It's my last-ditch effort to make the Australian World Cup Twenty20 side," he said.
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