Barmy Army Steal the Show

Well, what can you say?

The third Test in Barbados was a truly memorable game in many ways. Freddie Flintoff took five wickets in the first innings then Graham Thorpe, ably assisted by the tail scored a hard earned century and to cap it all Matthew Hoggard blasted out the West Indies middle order with an impressive second innings hat-trick to all but win the game.

One thing that links all these feats as well as England's match and series victory is the fact that the Barmy Army were there in their thousands every step of the way to create the most noise that has probably ever been heard at a cricket ground in the Carribean.

These weren't the inane rantings of Australia where, save Vaughan's runs, there wasn't much else to cheer about. Instead, the whole crescendo was directed at the cricketers on the field which seemed to visibly lift them. Indeed, Michael Vaughan thanked the fans in his presentation ceremony speech and also gave them a mention in the press conference.

He said that he could tell how much it meant to the supporters as he and the team did a lap of honour of the ground "just by looking at the elation in everyone's eyes in their heads". We know what you mean, Michael. And there certainly were plenty of eyes in plenty of heads.

Included in the ten thousand or so England fans were the Pink Panther, Sylvester the Cat, a group of stubbly nuns from Oldham, some Hull Kingston Rovers fans, lots of men in dresses, lots of women reliving their schooldays in short skirts. What's that? They were men too? No wonder that one with the nice legs gave me a funny look when I asked..........oh, never mind.

Jimmy was there too, waving his flag like a good `un and leading the singing with gusto. He kept proclaiming that he was going to get a new George Cross shirt by the end of the game as this one was falling apart. Unfortunately, the game was far too exciting and was over far too quickly for him to manage this.

The previously mentioned lap of honour after the game was as much a celebration of the Barmy Army as of the players themselves. It was a sort of mutual appreciation society thing. Great to see and great to be a part of.

The party went on long into the night, firstly just outside the ground in the makeshift bars, where reggae pumped out from impressive sound systems and later in the hang-outs of Bridgetown, Worthing and St Lawrence Gap, where everyone relived Thorpe's century and Hoggy's hat-trick.

It was a sight to behold and made me wonder what things must have been like when England last won in the Carribean. The year was 1968 and the Barmy Army were unheard of. I asked John Snow, an impressive fast bowler in his day and important member of that 1968 winning side how many England fans had been there in '68. "Not many" was his reply.

On the beach the day after the win, there was a relaxed mood. Hangovers were prevelant and some were getting rid of them by playing beach cricket. Others were swimming, while others read books. Botham's autobiography and Simon Hughes' A Lot of Hard Yakka seemed to be two favourites. No Balham to Bollywood though. Very disappointing.

So to Antigua. Can England make it four nil and also become the first touring side ever to win in Antigua?

It looks like a belter of a batting track which the bowlers will have to work hard on, but there's no reason why not.

Here's to an England victory,

Cheers.

Andy Clark is the editor of the Corridor of Uncertainty
the official unofficial England cricket fanzine