Australia keen to preserve home support

Australia's cricket authorities are determined that England's Barmy Army supporters won't outnumber the home supporters during next winter's Ashes series, as the jostling for position continues ahead of the most eagerly anticipated tour in years.

The Australia press has been speculating that as many as 40,000 English cricket fans will descend on Australia, raising concerns among some players that England's Ashes defence will be like a virtual home series for the visitors. But Cricket Australia says it is confident Australian fans will not be shouted down by the vociferous Barmy Army.

"The Aussie players are going to want to play in front of Australians, and we confidently expect that most people in the stands will be Australians barracking for Australia," said Peter Young, a Cricket Australia spokesman.

"That's the way it should be, because it's our country, and Australians should have as good an opportunity to see their team first-hand as we can provide."

There have been projections of huge crowds for the five Tests in November, December and January, and officials believe the refurbished Melbourne Cricket Ground - the principal venue for the Commonwealth Games in March - may break its own world record of 90,800 for the first day of the Boxing Day Test.

"It's going to be phenomenal," Shane Warne told AFP on Wednesday. "We've just got to make sure it's not a home Test for England. "[If] they've got 40,000 or 50,000 at [the MCG] and you've only got 20,000 or 30,000 Aussies it will be like a home ground for them."

CA's marketing people have not yet projected a total crowd figure, but it is expected to be the most watched Australian Test series in history. Young said the reason for the delay in ticketing pricing was the complexity of dealing with "the most extraordinary customer interest we've ever encountered".

He said ticket prices and on-sale dates were the responsibility of the individual state associations and CA wanted to make sure everything was right before any announcement. "They own the pricing of the tickets and to get all of that lined up is bloody hard work and we're not there yet.

But Young was not about to turn the English fans away. "We hope that lots of UK visitors come Down Under," he said. "It adds to the colour and excitement. We also hope that they leave lots of their pounds sterling here, and also that little urn here at the end, because we want it back."

England regained the Ashes against Australia for the first time in 18 years last September with a 2-1 series win.