Cricketing MPs, and stumped off a wide
Sanath Jayasuriya was recently elected to the Sri Lankan parliament, but he is still playing international cricket. Has anyone else played international cricket after becoming a politician?
As far as I can tell, Sanath Jayasuriya is the first person to play international cricket after being elected to his country's parliament (he won a seat in Matara in April). I say "elected" because the former West Indian captain Frank Worrell was briefly a senator in the Jamaican government - he took up the position in 1962, the year before his final Test series in England - but according to a biography of Worrell, he "joined as a nominee of the government, his name put forward by the prime minister, Sir Alexander Bustamante". Several cricketers have become politicians after their international careers have ended, notably Jayasuriya's long-time captain Arjuna Ranatunga, who was first elected in Sri Lanka shortly after his international retirement, and the Golden Age Australian captain Joe Darling, who became an MP in Tasmania after his Test career finished. In Britain it's worthy of note that Sir Alec Douglas-Home, who played the last of his 10 first-class matches in 1927 (he was a lively fast-medium bowler), was elected to the House of Commons in 1931 and became prime minister in 1963.
sorce http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/459191.html
Sanath Jayasuriya was recently elected to the Sri Lankan parliament, but he is still playing international cricket. Has anyone else played international cricket after becoming a politician?
As far as I can tell, Sanath Jayasuriya is the first person to play international cricket after being elected to his country's parliament (he won a seat in Matara in April). I say "elected" because the former West Indian captain Frank Worrell was briefly a senator in the Jamaican government - he took up the position in 1962, the year before his final Test series in England - but according to a biography of Worrell, he "joined as a nominee of the government, his name put forward by the prime minister, Sir Alexander Bustamante". Several cricketers have become politicians after their international careers have ended, notably Jayasuriya's long-time captain Arjuna Ranatunga, who was first elected in Sri Lanka shortly after his international retirement, and the Golden Age Australian captain Joe Darling, who became an MP in Tasmania after his Test career finished. In Britain it's worthy of note that Sir Alec Douglas-Home, who played the last of his 10 first-class matches in 1927 (he was a lively fast-medium bowler), was elected to the House of Commons in 1931 and became prime minister in 1963.
sorce http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/459191.html
