November 6, 2001

A Backpacker's Diary

- Jonathan Dyson

In terms of events on the pitch, England's tour of Australia in 1994-95 seemed just like any other - a woeful start in the first two Tests at Brisbane and Melbourne, followed by hints of a recovery at Sydney and even a win in Adelaide, before the true gap in class was confirmed in the final Test at Perth.

Yet, in a siginificant way, this was a seminal tour for English cricket, for this Ashes series saw the birth of the Barmy Army, now as much an emblem of modern English cricket as great figures like W G Grace are of English cricket's rich and colourful past.

A group of English backpackers found themselves grouped together at the Tests, and as the lager flowed, and the cricket entertained, they found that, despite England's poor performances, watching England abroad was great fun and an experience to be treasured. They soon found themselves chanting 'Atherton's Barmy Army'. This was a reference to the fans themselves, rather than the team, lest there be any understanble confusion.

Since that Ashes tour, England fans have flown in droves to several other countries, watching their team, and supporting them until their vocal chords have given up on them. In fact, it is now safe to say that England are easily the best supported Test team in the world. Last winter during England's tour to Sri Lanka, a large feature article by Christopher Martin-Jenkins in The Times acknowledged the significance of the Barmy Army: "The Barmies are a sign of the times for a game that has always reflected social trends."

So this partly explains why I am in India right now. Having seen England fans on the television enjoying themselves abroad, I have always had the desire to watch my team play overseas. I graduated from universty last year, and have since saved enough money to travel around the world for six months. I will spend three months in India, followed by five weeks in Australia, three weeks in New Zealand (for the Test series against England, of course), and finally three weeks in Canada.

This is a typical thing for young English people to do - we love to travel and experience other cultures. I also love cricket of course, so that is why I have combined the two together this winter. This diary will be a weekly account of both my travels round India, and my experiences of watching England in India. I hope you enjoy it.

So far I have been in Delhi for three days, and have thorougly enjoyed myself. India's lifestyle is of course radically different from that in England, so it was a bit of a shock at first, but I have to come to love Delhi - the people, the sights, the food, and of course the high temperatures. Everyone is very friendly and welcoming.

From Delhi, I plan to tour round Rajasthan, and then head down to Mumbai for England's first warm-up match against MCA President's XI, followed by the games against the Board President's XI in Hyderabad and India A in Jaipur. In Jaipur I will be meeting a fellow English fan with whom I have been chatting via e-mail. Then we will meet up with some other English fans for the Test series. After the Tests, we'll chill out on the beaches of Goa. Then in January I will be doing some research into schools, club and domestic cricket in India.

The fans that I will be meeting have all got together through the Barmy Army's web site, now located at http://www.englandcricketfans.rivals.net. This outlines what the Barmy Army is about if you are interested.

GE Features

Illustration: Bijoy Venugopal