The son of a clergyman, Dodds was a strong supporter of the Moral Re-Armament movement and cricket was, in his view, "a reflection of the Great Creator" and should therefore be played in a suitably dashing and creative style.
[2][3] Dodds was one of four brothers, the sons of a Church of England vicar who was successively in charge of parishes in Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire.
At about this time, according to his later account in his autobiography, he joined Moral Re-Armament and embraced a form of active Christianity in which he lived his life according to "advice" which he received in conversations with God: "You have a quiet time, in which you put the problem to him, and you note what thoughts he puts into your mind in reply.
"[3] Dodds reported that he asked God how he should play cricket, and received the reply: "Hit the ball hard and enjoy it.
"[3] He took some while to follow this advice, but when he did, the Essex cricketer and coach Frank Rist noted such a transformation in his batting that he dubbed Dodds "the miracle man".
In a match at Ilford, he conceived that if he were to take a catch off a particular ball bowled by leg-spinner Bill Greensmith, he should marry a woman named Ann who was keener on him than he was on her – Greensmith bowled a long hop, the batsman took a swipe, Dodds held the catch, and married Ann.
Playing cricket as an amateur in 1946, he turned professional – unusual for a former public schoolboy – from 1947 and he gave the money from his benefit match to Moral Re-Armament projects in India.
[11] Dodds' first-class cricket career never achieved these heights again, and though he continued to contribute more than 1000 runs each season for the next 10 years, his batting average drifted downwards – to the low 30s up to 1952, and then the mid 20s thereafter.
He reappeared in single matches for MCC in both 1960 and 1961, in the first of these scoring 75 and 41 against Cambridge University and sharing a fast opening partnership of 100 with Tom Pugh that lasted just an hour.