My night watching the Ashes with England’s Barmy Army
As London’s clocks struck 11pm on a cold Tuesday night in the capital, the sound of cheering, chanting and chatter pierced the night air as I entered a heaving sports pub in Victoria.
I was there to watch the start of the 2021-22 Ashes series. Cricket’s biggest rivalry was an hour from its first ball, due to be bowled 10,000 miles away at the Gabba in Brisbane.
The Barmy Army couldn’t be Down Under in force this time due to Australia’s Covid measures – in fact, only one man made an unofficial pilgrimage to a cricketing ground England haven’t tasted Test victory since 1987.
Instead, England’s grounded fan club, with Joe Root’s dad and Monty Panesar in attendance, gathered at Greenwood bar to stay up all night and support the lads from home – and I was invited.
I sat down – with a pint – just in time for the toss as Root and his opposite number Pat Cummins appeared on the various screens around the bar.
It’s fair to say the decision to bat baffled many of the 150-strong party; opening at the Gabba has never been an easy feat.
Then came the team news. No Stuart Broad. Jack Leach got the nod as an out-and-out spinner – the right call for a Test match, should it last the five days.
It wasn’t my first rodeo with the Barmy. On many occasions I have spent a day or two of a given summer in the Eric Hollies Stand at Edgbaston. I knew what I was in for.
In the minutes approaching midnight, the emphatic tones of The Great Escape oozed out of a bloke in a bucket hat with a trumpet – yes, really. It was going to be a special night, wasn’t it?
The first Barmy ball
So here we were, the first ball of the Ashes. It’s simple, really: block, score or dip – just don’t stand still.
Aussie seamer Mitchell Starc came charging in to open the series, with cries of “ohhhhh” increasing in volume and resonating around our special corner of London.
The tension was palpable, unbearable in fact. Rory Burns stood his ground as in came Starc over the wicket. OUT.
Boos rang around the room, expletives overpowering the groans. The Barmy Army traditionally belt out Jerusalem after the first ball, but even they were stunned.
The classical tune did come, however, later in the over and the mood was buoyant once again when England scored their first boundary.
The supporter next to me offered odds just after the toss on what time we’d see Root out batting. I expect those odds were slashed at that moment.
It’s fair to say the subsequent hours of cricket did little to raise ambitions of the Test reaching day five, but it didn’t dampen the mood in the room either.
Because after all, just a few months ago this tour was mired in doubt. There was no certainty we would see anything near a full strength England side, Ben Stokes was still out of action, and the T20 World Cup had ended in disappointing fashion.
To be there in the stands of the Gabba would have been great, sure. But to have the series is at least something.
Echoes of We Are The Army, The Barmy Army and Root’s name sung to the tune of Hey Jude kept the night flowing, as did the bar.
And come lunch, around 1am UK time, a flurry of burgers arrived to offer England fans something to enjoy, at last.
The night went on as it began, collapsing left, right and centre. But the mood of the room only became more resilient.
Conversations tuned to how England could rip through the Aussie batting order, and the all important second Test, a day-night affair in Adelaide – which starts in the early hours of Thursday,
Rarely a nocturnal being, I made a dash for the exit at about 3:45am, thanking Barmy Army director Chris Millard for his hospitality.
On my way home I contemplated how I had spent my night, and it left me with just one conclusion. Sport is an amazing thing, and the support for any individual or team – in times like these – is heartwarming.
The Barmy Army would go on to watch the next three days of the Test in bars in London and Manchester – in vain of course, but that didn’t matter.
These moments make sport, and my night with the Barmy Army has only made me want to be there in 2025 when England get underway at the Gabba all over again.