"It's a dream come true, you play the game from a youngster growing up that's something that you want to do, especially at the highest level, in England against England," he said. "I'm really happy and satisfied about it, especially also the position of the team, it's always good to help the team's cause."

Hodge successfully came through a short-ball examination from England's attack during the afternoon, led by Wood. Of the 29 balls that Hodge faced from Wood, 24 were either short or short of a good length - and the majority over 90mph.

"It was brutal," Hodge said. "It's not every day you rock up and you face someone that's bowling more than 90mph every single ball. There was one point, I made a joke to him, I said: 'Hey, I have a wife and kids at home.' But I think that made the century a lot more satisfying. Test cricket is brutal, it's challenging, it's mentally draining. To experience that, facing guys like Mark Wood, it was tough but it was satisfying."

While Hodge ducked and weaved successfully, as well as putting away several boundaries on the pull, Athanaze was struck on the helmet by Wood - prompting an expressive response from his batting partner.

"I flinched. I thought I was going to get hit before him but it didn't happen like that. But kudos to him that he bounced back well and was able to stand his ground and push on further.

"We always bat good together, play for the same franchise back home, we've had a lot of big partnerships," Hodge added. "He's more aggressive than I am, I'm more of an accumulator, so I tend to go under the radar and go about my business quietly. Always good to spend time with him at the wicket."

Although Athanaze fell for 82 when flashing Ben Stokes to gully, Hodge stuck to it and eventually brought up three figures with a punch down the ground off Stokes. His roar of approval, which was followed by leaping into the arms of Jason Holder mid-pitch, made clear how much the moment meant to him.

"It was amazing," Hodge told Sky Sports. "I think from 97 I blanked out I was just trying my best to stay in the moment and he bowled a big, booming inswinger and everything was just a blur, everything just happened in the moment. I told Jason I was still pinching myself after the celebration, I hadn't grasped it yet."

Hodge only made his Test debut on the tour of Australia in January, having played three ODIs against UAE last year, and admitted that he had feared he would not get this far after repeatedly missing out on selection.

"There were times when you start to doubt yourself, when you weren't getting the opportunity," he said. "There were times when to make the Test team, because of Covid, we had something called the best vs best, when they would bring the guys in and then split the squad into two and have warm-up games to select the team. I think I've taken part in that six or seven times and every time a selector or the coach would come to me and say 'We're not going to select you, we're looking in this direction'.

"So every time I went to a best vs best, it took a little bit out of me but I'm grateful that I stuck with it and things are working out, so I'm happy for that."

West Indies faced being written off as credible opposition after twice being dismissed for under 150 in the first Test at Lord's, a game that lasted barely seven sessions. But Hodge said that the tourists had been focused on learning from their mistakes and was glad to have helped capitalise in more favourable conditions.

"It was a matter of staying positive, we're not the only team who have lost a Test match two days. It's just a matter of learning from it, the conditions are new for a lot of us - this is my first time to England, so it's just a matter of learning quickly, adapting to conditions and finding ways to improve. And when we get the opportunity to bat, take it deep. As we've seen, it was a very good batting wicket, so it was imperative that once we got the opportunity we stay in, dig deep and put our team in a good position."