Australia’s parliamentary tennis team beats their Lords & Commons Tennis rivals in England.

Another Australian sporting team secured victory over their British counterparts this week and this time it didn’t result in the sporting equivalent of the Cuban missile crisis.

Don Farrell and Paul McNamee lend a hand to the Australian Parliament Tennis team.

Putting the squeeze on Victoria’s movers, shakers and headline makers.

It can be revealed that an Australian sporting team has played an English sporting team in London, in a winning result that did not trigger an international incident or the sporting equivalent of the Cuban missile crisis.

Despite loaded references to fair play, the Australian Parliament Tennis beat Lords & Commons Tennis 3-1 in the inaugural tennis challenge at National Tennis Centre in Roehampton.

The team included Gippsland MP Darren Chester, Nicholls MP Sam Birrell, Wills MP Peter Khalil, David Gillespie, Trade Minister Don Farrell and Lyne MP David Gillespie.

They were supported by Australian tennis legend Paul McNamee, who may have wound back his competitive instincts to play at a more social/gentlemanly standard, in the absence of team captain Anthony Albanese.

Khalil captained the team to a win against the British MPs, amid claims that the competitive challenge enhanced “the relationships between our countries in a way only sport can”.

Sport, for anyone freshly home from Mars, can also damage relationships between friendly countries when the losing country goes completely batsh-- in a whingeing frenzy.

The parliamentary cricketers are now taking on their UK friends in the Parliamentary Ashes.

Alas, potential fill-ins Jonny Bairstow and Alex Carey are otherwise engaged at Headingley.

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Ricky Nixon and Warwick Capper have kissed and made up ahead of their 60th birthday bashes.

Nixon, Capper down weapons in battle of milestones

We live in times of great conflict. Ukraine v Russia. Australia v England.

But in joyous news, it seems that the other big conflict, Capper v Nixon, has thankfully been resolved.

That’s right. Ricky Nixon has reached out to Warwick Capper to wish him well for his 60th birthday bash.

The footy pair have traded barbs since the plan for a joint party turned sour. Nixon had labelled Capper selfish while Capper said no one would turn up to Nixon’s bash.

But the battle of the milestones has thawed.

“He said good luck to me for my party,’’ Capper said.

He added: “I don’t want to compete. Good luck to him.”

Nixon decided to get in ahead of Capper and set his party date for this Saturday night, a week ahead of Capper.

Both parties are being held at the Pier Hotel in Port Melbourne.

What we do know is that Mick Gatto, who Capper said would be on security to ensure Nixon could not get into Capper’s party, will be overseas.