England to miss their 12th man
MUMBAI:AT tea on the final day of the Cape Town Test this year, hosts South Africa looked primed to bat out the final session.
They had five wickets in hand and the surface had no demons to warrant dreams of a final session turnaround by the visitors. But in the dressing room, the England players believed. And in the stands, so did their supporters – the Barmy Army.
Under the cover of the Table Mountain the voices of 5000 English supporters thundered about the Newlands.
With this support at his back, Ben Stokes charged in and delivered an inspired spell of fast bowling, all in the final hour, to win England the Test match and tie the series 1-1.
Stokes was named player of the match. But he knew as well as anyone else that the men in the terraces – often equated to being the team’s twelfth man -- had played their role.
“It felt like a home game, that really got everyone out on the field buzzing for that game,” he told reporters later.
That buzz will be missing when Stokes captains England’s Test team for the first time on Wednesday. When cricket resumes at Southampton for the first of three Tests, the stands will be empty of fans, including the Barmy Army. Co-founder Paul Burnham cannot imagine an England Test without cricket’s biggest registered fan group hollering about.
And they have come a long way themselves – from a bunch of backpacking cricket crazies in
Australia in the 90s.
“It’s going to be strange with no fans. The fans will miss the players, and they will miss the fans,” says Burnham.
The Army had requested the ECB to play their anthems on public address systems during the Tests, but that appeal has not made any headway yet.
Although the troupe is best known as a travelling squad, they remain well represented in home games too.
“We are a smaller group in England, as opposed to when thousands of us travel abroad by using up our annual leave. But, yes, it’s been 25 years now and it will be weird to miss a Test match,” adds Burnham.
The Barmy Army has overwhelmed grounds all around the world. But it’s in Australia, their spiritual home, where they truly become England’s twelfth man. In massive stands, where one has to yell to be heard, they always manage to find their collective voice.
Australia’s head coach Justin Langer recently advised his team to ‘not mess with the Barmy Army’. “One thing I respect about the Barmy Army (is that) through thick and thin they always barrack for the England cricket team,” Langer added.
“You pay a lot of money to go to a cricket game and spend six hours there,” Burnham says. “We know if we spend it right, it can have an effect on the England cricket team, maybe get them a wicket.
“We support them unconditionally. Whatever the result, we are active supporters, not passive fans. And the players appreciate it.”