In the first over, on every day of Test cricket England play, whether it be at Lord’s or in Cape Town, the patriotic and traditional English song Jerusalem is bellowed loudly and proudly by the most passionate of followerships. Indeed, the Barmy Army take less time to get into their stride on matchday than a pumped up fast bowler or an opening batsman with all the technical talent in the world.
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And it was all started by founder Paul Burnham. Some might say he has the best job in the world – travelling the globe watching the England team for a living.
But behind the long tours away from home and travel, sunglasses for most of the year and a better suntan than most Brits could only dream of, there is a growing industry behind watching England’s most gifted cricketers bowl and bat in a sun-kissed and unique location.
“It’s a business behind a supporters club,” Burnham told Sport360 during the third Test of the recent Pakistan-England Test series in Sharjah.
“It’s a lot busier than people think. If I had a pound for everyone who thinks this is the best job in the world (I would make a lot of money), and it is a great job, travelling around, but there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes – which is basic, boring admin work that ensures everything runs like clockwork for the people that come on tour with us.”
Some might wonder what a tour actually entails with the group, beyond following the congested international fixture list.
The Barmy Army effectively puts together a detailed but flexible itinerary for travellers – taking all the stress away of booking flights, hotels, transfers and match tickets and ensuring that following the tour is an efficient process. And it can be a cumbersome process with more than 35,000 members.
“We do all the key tickbox stuff on tour, the tourist attractions aside from the matchdays. But it’s up to the guys to join in if they want,” Burnham said.
“During a Test match, it’s a long time – 30 hours – so it is quite flexible what people want to do. We look after them and help them with all they need throughout a tour.”
More recently, the group have linked up with travel company Thomson Sport to improve their experiences. He continued: “Our aim is to make watching England in all forms of cricket more accessible and enjoyable for the fans.”
For England fans, such is the non-stop international calendar the team faces, there are plenty of opportunities to travel.
Take this year, for example – England have visited Australia and New Zealand for the World Cup, contested a Test series against
the West Indies in the Caribbean, tasted sweet success over Australia at home in the Ashes, travelled to the UAE and then after a gap of 10 days at home England will be off to South Africa for a lengthy tour.
There are plenty of chances for England fans to travel but tours certainly aren’t something you can do on the cheap, as Burnham alludes to.
“The Barmy Army are not professional supporters, if you like – most of them hold down a job. They get the same amount of annual leave as the next man and woman, 24 to 25 days.
“In the UAE, fans tried their best to travel to all three Tests, and there was a lot of interest in Sharjah as I understand it’s the first time England have played a Test match there. It’s a tickbox for a few of the Barmy Army.
“It’s been easy to organise, the UAE is a great place, the weather is guaranteed and there’s been some good cricket.”
And while England’s one-day international series against Pakistan is ongoing, Burnham has been buoyed by his experiences in the UAE and will certainly take ideas and inspiration from the region before making the pilgrimage to South Africa next month.
“I’ll certainly be saying some really positive things when I’m back,” he said. “It’s the first time I’ve spent a serious amount of time here and there’s some great stuff going on. It’s a sporting metropolis, it’s brilliant what they’re doing. Obviously it’s developed amazingly well and it’s a great place.
“We’ve had a good experience and we’re hopeful the expat community in the Middle East might consider coming away with the Barmy Army. You’re a third of the way from Australia here so we do hope UAE-based people will get on our website and join us.”
Although the Barmy Army’s name is synonymous with cricket, Burnham has revealed there are preliminary plans in place to broaden the group’s horizons to travel packages for other sports too – most notably rugby.
“After 20 years of having fun, and we’re still going to have fun, we want to be the voice of the fans and build up a really big community of British sports fans. Obviously in cricket we have this and we’re looking at other sports as well, certainly rugby. Cricket is the main love for most of the Barmy Army but there’s obviously a synergy with rugby in the UK,” he added. “Take a look at the Rugby Sevens in Dubai, a lot of our guys will attend the events here and it’s exciting times.”
Ashes cricket and beating Australia is undoubtedly the pinnacle for any English supporter – and Burnham insists that trips Down Under are what he and thousands of others live for.
“Often, the Barmy Army are allocated a certain section in the ground and out-number home fans for large parts of the day on tours to Australia.
“A lot of the guys will tell you they prefer the smaller tours and more cultural things but I must admit I’m all about beating Australia,” Burnham smiles. “There’s no doubting that my best memory following the team is the victorious 2010/11 tour Down Under. It was the way we won there, the demeanour of the team.”
And who can forget the famous sprinkler dance, led by Graeme Swann, in front of the supporters at the MCG. The links the Barmy Army has created with the England players are extraordinary – virtually every player gets involved with an event at some stage each year, particularly occasions with a charity angle. The connection between them is infectious. And as former captain Michael Vaughan once said: ‘The Barmy Army really are the England team’s 12th man.”
