I was amused to read this story in the Age Online this afternoon, which opens with the sentence:

“Prime Minister John Howard has urged employers to show flexibility if their workers are bleary eyed after watching the must-win deciding Ashes cricket Test against England.”

Does this remind anyone else of the famous Bob Hawke 'any boss who sacks a worker for taking a day off is a bum' declaration after Australia won the America's Cup in 1983? There's a delightful symmetry, there - the workplace 'flexibility' urged by Howard echoing the words of a trade union stalwart, all in the name of sport.

I was also intrigued to read the Prime Minister's comments about the return of Glenn McGrath: “he is a tremendous asset. He's such a reliable, accurate bowler”. Now, as much as it pains me to agree with the PM on anything, I can only interpret that as a veiled slur on that most idiotic, unreliable, nowhere-near-accurate-or-consistent showpony of the Australian bowling lineup, Brett “Fuckhead” Lee. In which case, he's absolutely right. Gah.

PS: You'll be amused to note that writing this post required me to google the phrase “Hawke bum sack sickie”, to check the wording of the original quote. I feel a little dirty.