From the "Emirates Evening Post"
At the very top of International sport, coaches and sportsman alike always seek that magic recipe that will make the difference. It may be a piece of equipment, an innovative motivational programme, a new fielding position or a new formation for the team on the pitch. But how often, I wonder, do they think of trying to use the hidden advantage that dedicated spectators and supporters can bring. At the end of a successful football or cricket match the winning team will often go to their spectators (especially at away matches) and return the applause. This is a smart as well as a courteous thing to do. It may seem obvious but the reason that in most sports the home side has an advantage is because they can hear and respond to the support they receive. Conversely the visiting team may find the atmosphere hostile and that can prevent them from playing at their best.
I am at present in Cape Town for the third South Africa v England Test Match and one of the most remarkable phenomenons at the ground is the English team support. The Barmy Army has quite a few battalions here in South Africa and they make much more noise than the Proteas supporters who outnumber them. The extent of the penetration of the Barmies into the psyche of English cricket supporters became clear to me at a remarkable event on New Years Eve. I was at a very good, if rather formal, Cape Town sports club to see in the New Year alongside more than twenty members of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Now MCC members are generally as well behaved as they are well heeled. In the spectrum of British society MCC is well to the conservative end – not a membership that would be a natural resting place for the radical. But as the strains of Auld Lang’s Syne died out after midnight I heard a small rumble beginning at the MCC tables. Suddenly these pillars of the community to a man and a woman started a loud and raucous “Barmy Army, Barmy Army…” chant! It was very funny indeed – not least because of the shocked reaction of the good (but rather sedate) burghers of Cape Town at the other tables!
The MCC’s willingness to align itself with the sometimes outrageous (and always irreverent) Barmy Army was an amusing jape at a rather over-dignified event - but there is a serious point to be made. Although not all English cricket supporters who follow the team abroad are members of the Army we all rather admire what they do. In the West Indies last year the huge Barmy Army presence really did make a difference and England’s overall success in 2004 can be in part attributed to this hugely vocal set of supporters. For the team to know that they have support in the ground from a large group who have travelled thousands of miles at their own expense to be there is very motivating. The Barmy Army is unique, and whilst I would not suggest that it is necessarily a model for other cricket teams, it does show that vocal and good natured support can help a team’s performance.
At Newlands, the Cape Town ground, the South African cricket authorities made a very smart decision in respect of the spectators. During the lunch interval we were invited to go on to the playing area and to walk around and have a look at the pitch. Obviously the pitch area itself was roped off but we could go anywhere else. Thousands took advantage of this invitation and everybody behaved well and obeyed the stewards. By their decision the organisers of the Test Match have made many friends amongst local and visiting supporters alike. It was a smart move which cost nothing and where the risk of abuse was small. No doubt the International Cricket Council (ICC) will not be amused if they hear the story. The ICC is obsessed with rules in respect of all aspects of International cricket and they prefer to keep cricket spectators at their distance at matches and put a raft of other onerous constraints on them. Try wearing a Coca Cola T shirt at an ICC event if you want to see what I mean! It might be time for the millions of cricket supporters around the world to ask to be treaded with respect and to be trusted - and the ICC could do well to look at the example of the Barmy Army to see why supporters are so important.
I am at present in Cape Town for the third South Africa v England Test Match and one of the most remarkable phenomenons at the ground is the English team support. The Barmy Army has quite a few battalions here in South Africa and they make much more noise than the Proteas supporters who outnumber them. The extent of the penetration of the Barmies into the psyche of English cricket supporters became clear to me at a remarkable event on New Years Eve. I was at a very good, if rather formal, Cape Town sports club to see in the New Year alongside more than twenty members of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Now MCC members are generally as well behaved as they are well heeled. In the spectrum of British society MCC is well to the conservative end – not a membership that would be a natural resting place for the radical. But as the strains of Auld Lang’s Syne died out after midnight I heard a small rumble beginning at the MCC tables. Suddenly these pillars of the community to a man and a woman started a loud and raucous “Barmy Army, Barmy Army…” chant! It was very funny indeed – not least because of the shocked reaction of the good (but rather sedate) burghers of Cape Town at the other tables!
The MCC’s willingness to align itself with the sometimes outrageous (and always irreverent) Barmy Army was an amusing jape at a rather over-dignified event - but there is a serious point to be made. Although not all English cricket supporters who follow the team abroad are members of the Army we all rather admire what they do. In the West Indies last year the huge Barmy Army presence really did make a difference and England’s overall success in 2004 can be in part attributed to this hugely vocal set of supporters. For the team to know that they have support in the ground from a large group who have travelled thousands of miles at their own expense to be there is very motivating. The Barmy Army is unique, and whilst I would not suggest that it is necessarily a model for other cricket teams, it does show that vocal and good natured support can help a team’s performance.
At Newlands, the Cape Town ground, the South African cricket authorities made a very smart decision in respect of the spectators. During the lunch interval we were invited to go on to the playing area and to walk around and have a look at the pitch. Obviously the pitch area itself was roped off but we could go anywhere else. Thousands took advantage of this invitation and everybody behaved well and obeyed the stewards. By their decision the organisers of the Test Match have made many friends amongst local and visiting supporters alike. It was a smart move which cost nothing and where the risk of abuse was small. No doubt the International Cricket Council (ICC) will not be amused if they hear the story. The ICC is obsessed with rules in respect of all aspects of International cricket and they prefer to keep cricket spectators at their distance at matches and put a raft of other onerous constraints on them. Try wearing a Coca Cola T shirt at an ICC event if you want to see what I mean! It might be time for the millions of cricket supporters around the world to ask to be treaded with respect and to be trusted - and the ICC could do well to look at the example of the Barmy Army to see why supporters are so important.
