PM asks bosses to give cricket fans a break
11:00 AEST Thu Sep 8 2005
AFP
Prime Minister John Howard, a self-confessed "cricket tragic", has called on bosses to cut their workers some slack so they can follow the crucial final Ashes Test against England through the night.
Live television coverage of the five-day Test starting Thursday at The Oval in London will run from 7:00 pm local time each night into the early hours of the next morning, leaving thousands of fans bleary-eyed at the office.
Told that the leader of Britain's trade unions had asked bosses to allow workers to follow the progress of the Test, Howard called for local employers to be flexible.
"Well of course the hours are a little different," Howard told Nine Network television.
"There should be workplace flexibility and that means that where it's possible, there should be flexible arrangements so people can watch."
Howard passed on his best wishes to Australian skipper Ricky Ponting and his team.
"I think it is wonderful for the game that there is such huge interest in both our countries," he said.
England lead Australia 2-1 in the gripping five-Test series and have the chance of wresting the coveted Ashes from Australia for the first time in 16 years.
From http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=60486