Barmies plan a Caribbean boycott

The escalating furore over the West Indies Cricket Board's decision to massively hike ticket prices for the forthcoming home series against England took a new turn with news that the Barmy Army - England's loyal band of supporters - are set to boycott the Caribbean in protest.

The Barmy Army have been unfaltering in their support of England overseas for more than a decade, never failing to travel to venues others - including some players - have feared to tread. But the WICB's ploy to raise money for cricket in the region looks as if it is an obstacle too far.

"They [the Barmies] don't like being treated like idiots," Katy Cooke, the secretary of the Barmy Army, told The Guardian. "They're being asked to subsidise ground improvements in another country. No one who went to Bangladesh is going to the West Indies. I know lots of people who were going to take their families out there, but it just isn't worth it now, especially as the accommodation is already expensive. There's been absolute outrage.

"If we'd told Zimbabweans at the Chester-le-Street Test last summer that they suddenly had to pay more than the England fans to get in so that the authorities could fund some new seats in Durham, we'd have been branded racist pigs."

And the view that staying at home is the preferred option is echoed by Phil Long, another ever-present Barmy. "I've been following England abroad since 1996," he told the newspaper. "But the trip to the West Indies will be the first I've dismissed on the grounds of cost. In Bangladesh you could get by on £150 for the entire five-week trip. Now we're being asked to pay more for the tickets alone. A lot of the boys are saying we'll give this one a miss.

What's happening is a real shame, because we're the best touring fans there are. I was in Calcutta for the one-day final recently between India and Australia, and there were only about 10 Aussie fans there. We're being penalised for giving such good support."

New Century Marketing, the London-based firm in charge of selling the tickets, continues to insist that sales for the four-Test series which starts in March are good.