Barmy Army threaten to boycott Ashes tour

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The Barmy Army haven't had a good start to their Ashes tour and are even threatening to boycott the rest of the tour. Their team got hammered in the first Test. Their trumpeter Bill Cooper was evicted from the Gabba. They didn't like the song played during the tea break of the 1st day that mocked the English. They were split up across the ground and booed by Australians whenever they started up a song. They complained that when Australia hit a boundary, the scoreboard displayed "Tonked" which didn't occur when England scored a boundary. On Day 1, I sat next to some Barmy Army members who were dumbfounded that the Mexican wave was banned. To add further insult to injury, the ECB are taking legal action against the Barmy Army for selling unofficial Ashes merchandise.

Now my Aussie instinct is to respond "whingeing Poms" and move on. I can see where the Gabba officials are coming from. Aussie crowds have been getting a bad rap for years now and the powers that be merely want to guarantee families have a good experience at the cricket, undisturbed by yobbos. And after the racist taunts from the South African series last year, the ICC are threatening to remove Test status from any grounds where the crowd behaviour crosses the line. That's a serious threat and you can understand ground officials' zeal in maintaining order.

However, in fairness, I and most Aussies were looking forward to the extra colour and culture the Barmy Army would bring to our matches. These aren't football hooligans - cricket fans are a dorkier lot. So there has been noises from other Australian grounds that there will be compromises made with the Barmy Army. The trumpeter will likely be allowed to play at future matches. Adelaide has a grassy area where the Poms will likely congregate. Melbourne and Sydney have said they may allow Mexican waves. So in theory, I agree that the authorities should relax their restrictions on the Barmy Army with one proviso - if England start winning, we go back to splitting them up and silencing the bugler again.

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Posted by JC on Tue 28 Nov

31 comments

How did you find them at the Gabba JC? I could think of nothing worse. Hour upon hour of inane chanting, bit like Chinese water torture I'd have thought. Bad enough on the telly; would hate to be sitting right next to it all day. If it's true that the Army consists of intelligent, articulate, qualified people, then we'd expect something better?? Heard a bloke on John Laws today saying he won't be going back to the Gabba because of the incessant and torturous noise they created.

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Posted by Dan Tas on 2006-11-28 19:51:41

On Day 1, they were quiet - one brief chant in the morning when Langer got out. A few chants in the afternoon once the beer took hold. But very quiet as they were scattered all over the place. The most I heard was from an English guy sitting next to me who was muttering "rubbish" most of thhe day (in reference to the English bowling). It was on Day 5 when they were able to gather into one large group that they made some real noise (or so I gather from what I saw on TV - I was only there on Day 1).

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Posted by JC on 2006-11-28 20:03:37

Ban the barmy army? Rubbish! Best behaved sports fans in the world. There's a whole host of things we need to ban before that: Australian Idol, ACA, Kim Beasley, and AWB affiliates just to name a few.

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Posted by TA on 2006-11-29 00:24:30

It was an over reaction and just shows how conservative Australia has become in the last 10 years.

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Posted by cricket0607.blogspot.com on 2006-11-29 03:46:14

I agree that Australia has become a lot more conservative recently - I thought it was a 9/11 ripple effect but maybe having a conservative government in power for as long as I can remember is a factor too. The Gold Coast Bulletin have published a good article on how over the top the Gabba security was

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Posted by JC on 2006-11-29 11:02:13

I don't know I like the idea of the Barmy Army, but one would hope they had a little more variety. I watched some of the 5th day and the chanting was annoying, mainly in that it was lacking in variety. All I could hear was Barmy Army.

I actually enjoyed a bit of the peace of the 3rd and 4th day with the chants/cheering mainly around highlights (ie 4s/6s and wickets).

Though I am guessing day 5 was maybe a bit of catch up for the previous 4 days.

They seemed less annoying in the last Ashes for some reason.

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Posted by Andrew on 2006-11-29 19:20:26

I think the more engrossing the cricket, the less the chanting. By the 5th day, the match was all but over. In fact, it was all but over by Day 2 - or arguably after Harmison's first ball :-)

I read a copy of both the Barmy Army and Fanatics songbooks on Day 1 at the ground - both had heaps of clever, funny songs. My fav was probably the Fanatic's dig at Trescothick (titled "Stresscothick", written before he went home). Hopefully as the series goes on, both groups will get to know their whole repertoire of songs better.

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Posted by JC on 2006-11-29 21:58:29

Clearly you aussie's have gone a bit soft. The Barmy Army is incredibly tame compared to some of the jibes you guys throw at us. We were very accommodating in summer 05 - give us a break and return the complement, we're gonna need sympathy with our guys performing like that on the pitch.

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Posted by Angus Pace & Bounce Tour 2006- on 2006-12-01 06:41:54

I was at the 'Gabba on days 1 & 2. Cricket Australia and Queensland's penchant for jackbooted policing all but destroyed the atmosphere of the game.

I'd like to apologise to England fans and the Barmy Army.

To make up for my embarrassment at our behaviour in Brisbane, I'll be supporting England at the Ashes!.... Go England!

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Posted by neelie on 2006-12-03 14:09:41

The Australian authorities arer quite right to brand the Barmy Army as mindless hooligans. They have driven me and many others away from the cricket ground with their mindless and constant chanting, their baseball caps, and the potential violence that always lurks beneath the surface. Ban the lot I say

Walter C

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Posted by Walter Cairns on 2006-12-09 23:43:03

I hear they're deadly with those baseball caps :-)

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Posted by JC on 2006-12-10 08:41:12

4-0 today in Melbourne and still the Army kept chanting - either a glimmer of hope that the result might end up 4-1, or the baseball caps were too tight ;-)

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Posted by Filthy on 2006-12-28 18:25:35

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