The parallels in Australian politics and cricket

Do cricket and politics go hand in hand? It certainly has in Australia and history will tell you how. Tim Blair, in an editorial for the Daily Telegraph, draws up some interesting parallels, chronicling the fortunes of Joseph Lyons and Don Bradman and later with that of Kevin Rudd and Ricky Ponting. There's plenty more. Read on.

Rudd lost his first bid for a Federal seat in 1996. Ponting was dropped from the Test team in 1996 after two Tests against the West Indies. Ponting has captained Australia in 20/20 games, a form of the sport many find pointless, distracting and dominated by players not fit for serious contests. Rudd led the 2020 Summit.

But it wasn't always so coincidental.

Australia's stock markets lost nearly half their worth in the last two weeks of October, 1987, yet on November 8, Australia won the World Cup against England. It was the beginning of a revival for the team, which two years later regained the Ashes.