After winning the toss and batting Australia soon lost Watson, the hero of their Champions Trophy final triumph, but Ponting and opener Tim Paine steadied the ship.
That's exactly how the U.S. did it in 1991 and 1992 when it faced a credit crunch so severe that Gulf War hero George Bush lost the 1992 election to an unknown Bill Clinton.
Very important, George Allen - before he imploded and lost to Senate reelection race after the Macaca incident - was really like a hero to conservatives.