The real test we all play

As we head into summer, the Ashes will once again become the soundtrack of the nation. Test cricket has always been one of Australia’s great pastimes, but the game also offers lessons that reach far beyond the boundary. Politics and business, whether you like it or not, operate on many of the same principles.

Success in either field requires the ability to play the conditions, stay true to your natural game, and recognise that the aim is not always to win outright. Sometimes the real objective is simply to survive the session.

A coach of mine once gave me a piece of advice that has stayed with me: “find a way.” In cricketing terms, it describes the mindset that separates the hopeful from the hardened competitor. Whether you are in peak form and seeing everything like a beach ball, or whether your top order has evaporated before lunch and the bowlers are landing every delivery on a five-cent piece, the requirement remains the same. You must find a way. Survive. Reset. Adapt.

I will admit I am biased. Many of my own life lessons have been shaped through cricket. Any sport that stretches across five days and challenges both mental and physical fortitude has plenty to teach. For politics and industry, Test cricket is not simply a pastime. It is a practical guide.

Every cricket fan has heard of Bazball, the supposedly revolutionary English approach centred on relentless positivity and constant aggression. It is entertaining and, on its day, capable of dominating a match.

However, if the pitch is misbehaving, if the ball is swinging like a pendulum, or if the opposition has seized all the momentum, charging in headfirst can quickly become self-destruction. The lesson is clear. Adaptability matters just as much as ideology. In politics and business, ignoring the environment is every bit as dangerous as ignoring a green, seaming wicket.

Conditions change. Momentum shifts. Some days the world seems determined to bowl short at you for an hour. The challenge is to respect the moment and respond with clarity rather than panic. Aggression is not always a sign of courage. Sometimes the smartest choice is to shoulder arms and let the ball pass safely to the keeper.

Adaptability, however, does not require abandoning your identity. The best players understand their strengths and never pretend to be something they are not. You must lean into your natural advantages and remember what makes you, you. If you stop playing your own game, you start playing your opponent’s, and that is when you fall into the trap.

Your game, your brand and your strengths matter. You can adjust to the conditions without losing who you are.

Non-cricket fans often wonder how a match can stretch across five days and still end without a result. What they overlook is that a draw can be one of the most admirable outcomes in the game. It demands character, patience and a refusal to surrender when the odds are stacked against you. Cricket history is filled with moments that show the dignity in survival. Think of Bodyline and the courage it provoked, or Graeme Smith walking out to bat with a broken hand in a desperate attempt to save a Test. These moments remind us that the game rewards endurance as much as brilliance.

When defeat appears to be the only outcome, the true measure of a team or a leader is their ability to dig in and survive. The Ashes series ahead will no doubt produce examples of this. The side that lifts the urn will be the one that plays the conditions, trusts its own style of play and endures the tough sessions where survival becomes the only objective.Politics and business could use more of this mindset. Not every contest is won with spectacle or force. Sometimes the highest skill is to absorb pressure, ride out the difficult passages and return stronger. Cricket has always been a passion of mine, but it has also been one of my greatest teachers.