Barmy Army 'batten down hatches' as Covid hits cricket tour business
Click to listen to my podcast interview with Chris Millard, MD of the Barmy Army
September 27, The Cricket Paper
The Barmy Army started 2020 by celebrating their 25th birthday, ended the summer with official recognition from the England captain but will see out the year, like so many of us, ‘battening down the hatches’ for a difficult 2021.
The story of this supporters’ group is well-known. Paul Burnham, Gareth Evans and David Peacock were part of a cluster of doughty fans watching Mike Atherton’s men slide to another inglorious Ashes defeat in Adelaide in the winter of 1994/95. They sang and drank with gusto, seemingly oblivious to the score, the opposition or the need for sun-block. The Australian press branded them “the Barmy Army”, a name that the trio were shrewd enough to copyright in the UK and Australia. They printed and sold 100 T-shirts with their new name. By the next Test, they would need 3,000. Since then, the Barmy Army have followed England though thin, thinner and occasionally ‘thick’, providing loud, passionate support from the stands. Outwardly they conform to the stereotype of the travelling English sports fan, however, their ethos has always been different. Aware of their behaviour and self-policing, they have raised £500,000 for charities in the countries they visit. Their funds helped to rebuild a Sri Lankan village destroyed by a tsunami. It was renamed in the group’s honour.
The relationship between the England team and the Barmy Army has always been strong, however, earlier this month, it was officially rubber-stamped when captain Joe Root added a “Thank You, Barmy Army” sticker to the back of his bat.
“Joe got in touch with us before the Australia ODIs,” managing director Chris Millard told the Cricket Paper. “He wanted to give a little bit back to the fans, and show how the team are missing them this season. It was a really nice gesture to take the commercial aspect out of it. Hopefully, it resonates with the Barmy Army and the England cricket community.”
Since its inception, the organisation has grown into a commercial operation with 12 staff, eight of whom are full-time. Their core business is running tours and ticketing for 4,000 ‘first-class’ members and the 40,000 people registered on their database. This is supported by merchandising and other marketing activities.
Four days before the UK Government enforced their initial lockdown in March, the ECB announced the tour of Sri Lanka was off. The Barmy Army had 300 fans ready to fly out. It meant a round of frantic calls to members and whatever non-members needed assistance. In 2021, Barmy Tours were set to visit India, Bangladesh, the T20 World Cup and, for the first time, the Netherlands before culminating in Australia for the Ashes. Understandably, all are now labelled “TBC” on their website.
“It is a really difficult time for everyone,” said Millard. “Every aspect of our business is severely affected because we have members who travel and like to watch live sports. While the pennies are tight, you can understand why the Barmy Army isn't the first thing on people's list.
“We're trying our best to batten down the hatches and get ourselves financially secure for the next 18 months. We've made sure that we've done the right planning and forecasting with all the government grants and loans to make sure that we're here next year and the year after that.
“We were very fortunate that last Christmas we were in South Africa, which was very successful. We grew the membership and sold a lot of merchandise. We are just thankful that the timing has not fallen on an Ashes, West Indies or South African Tour, which, in a business sense, are absolutely critical to the whole operation.”
After a quarter of a century of eccentric optimism, good humour, rowdy songs and utter devotion, an England Test without the Barmy Army would be unthinkable.
