Barmy Army give up and go home

In the Daily Telegraph, Iain Payten reports that the Barmy Army are flying home in droves after England’s lacklustre start to the one-day series.

The head of the Barmy Army in Australia, Craig Gill, said last night that organisers had dumped dozens of tickets for the Commonwealth Bank Series with the edict: “Get whatever you can for them”. Easier said than done. Of the 19 spare tickets Gill has for next Friday's Australia-England clash at the Sydney Cricket Ground, only two have been taken.

Perhaps the next major one-day tournament – the World Cup – will prove more competitive. Dene Hills, the Australia assistant coach, has just returned from a fact-finding tour of the West Indies and, according to the Herald Sun, he reports that Australia’s four-man pace attack could be the way to go on the hard Caribbean pitches.

“There probably won't be a lot of spin,” Hills said. “The grounds were more lush than I expected and the pitches were hard. Some pitches haven't started to be rolled yet, so I guess if I had one concern that would be it. But they've got five weeks to go so I'm sure they will be starting to prepare them.”