If you want to get ahead in Washington, it helps if you got game.

Barack Obama, the US President-elect, has boasted that his Cabinet will be the first in US history that can hold its own on a basketball court.

His latest nominee is the 6ft 5in Arne Duncan, who made his name reforming the Chicago school system and has been picked as Mr Obama's Education Secretary. Mr Duncan was the former co-captain of the Harvard basketball team and played professionally in Australia after graduating. He was also chosen to shoot a few hoops with the Democratic candidate on Election Day.

“I did not select Arne because he’s one of the best basketball players I know,” Mr Obama said yesterday. “Although I will say that I think we are putting together the best basketball-playing cabinet in American history.”

Among those lined up for slots on Mr Obama's dream team is General James Jones, the 6ft 4in nominee for National Security Adviser. General Jones, 64, played as a forward for Georgetown University in the early 1960s.

Slightly younger, at 57, is Eric Holder, the nominee for Attorney-General, who co-captained the team at New York's Stuyvesant High School and played on at Columbia University.

Susan Rice, 44, is Mr Obama's pick as United Nations ambassador. At 5ft 3in she might sound like she's too short to make the senior team, but she was a star point guard at school in Washington and was nicknamed "Spo", short for "Sportin'".

The list does not end there. Janet Napolitano, who has been tapped to become Homeland Security Secretary, is a regular guest coach at the University of Arizona. Reggie Love, Mr Obama's ever-present personal aide, is a 6ft 5in 26-year-old who played basketball at Duke University. Timothy Geithner, the next Treasury Secretary, is another keen player.

If things got really tough, Mr Obama could also call on Paul Volcker, his 6ft 7 in chief economic adviser, who turned out for Princeton in his youth, although, at 81, his age could be a problem.

One Cabinet pick who might not make the grade is Hillary Clinton, although she claimed last year to have played "pick-up basketball", the rules-free street version of the game. Few people believed her.

The team would have no problem choosing a captain. Mr Obama was on the state championship team at Punahou School in his native Honolulu, where he was known as "Barry O'Bomber". Now 47, he still plays regularly, including every primary day during his campaign.

Indeed, Mr Obama's prowess on the court helped him woo his wife Michelle, who asked her brother, Craig Robinson, to shoot hoop with him early on in their relationship to see what kind of player he was. Mr Robinson went on to become a star forward at Princeton and is now head coach at Oregon State University. He has not yet been named to his brother-in-law's Cabinet.

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