Barmy Army: Singing

It is a strange feeling now that we have finally done it... I guess it is fair to say that most of the Barmy Army are not used to winning and so it was all fairly reserved when Andy Caddick finally bowled Stuart MacGill to win the final Test for us.

There were hand-shakes all round and of course lots of singing but side from that we were all very quiet about it. Things will definitely pick up a little later and I am sure that lots of beer will be consumed later, but for now the fact that we have won must still sink in - we really wanted this win very badly.

From the start of this Test I have been saying that it was our best chance of beating Australia. Without Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath suddenly the playing fields were much more level and we needed to capitalize on that. Fortunately all our bowlers came through very well and Michael Vaughan was fantastic once again and we were able to do it.

People may say that it is not a real achievement in that we beat an under-strength Australian side after the series had already been lost. That is a ridiculous argument to make as firstly people need to remember that England have been playing without some of their best players for the entire series. The fifth Test was simply a case of an under-strength England beating an Australian side that for once was also under-strength.

That the series was over and there was nothing left to play for is also a simple argument. The fact that Matthew Hayden was fined for breaking a window when he went out, or that Steve Waugh was playing in possibly his last Test, certainly his last Ashes Test suggest just how much winning in Sydney meant to the Australians.

It certainly meant a lot to England and it meant a whole lot to the Barmy Army as well. The guys have traveled across Australia watching England getting clobbered and it is a credit to everybody involved that we kept our chins up, stayed behind our players and behaved ourselves.

It was really nice to be recognized by the players in the post-match speeches - and it wasn’t just Nasser Hussain who paid tribute to us. Steve Waugh and Bob Merriman both made special mention of The Army as did Michael Vaughan. And obviously we like to think that England’s revival was partly thanks to us!

It was quite obvious that we got under Justin Langer’s skin at Melbourne - yet another indication that the home side were taking the game very seriously despite having won the series - and the way England were lifted on that final day at the MCG was a key moment for England in the series.

We also kept up our support of Nasser Hussain throughout the series and I don’t think there was a single Barmy Army supporter who wanted his head. We sang his song on the first day of the first Test and we were still singing it today! The way the English press have treated him has been absolutely disgraceful and the continued suggestions that he should step down are nonsense - It is at times like this that I am convinced the fans know more about the game than the press!

So where to from here? The Barmy Army is traditionally about Test cricket so a lot of the guys will be going home now. Some of us will stay on and will be traveling from game to game, but we won’t be there in the same mass as we have been at the Tests. You will just have to look out for isolated pockets of fans at the sold-out stadiums.

And will this win have an impact on the VB Series? It is hard to say... England have a good ODI squad and they will obviously take a lot of confidence from this win, but it would be foolish for them to suddenly think they are better than Australia - they can leave that to the fans!

Yes, we may have lost the series 4-1, but you are only as good as your last game and Australia’s last game was a loss! They have yet to win a Test this year! It sounds good to say but we all know that they are, or at least should be, the World Champions. On current form they are the best team in the world - not South Africa - and to have been in Sydney supporting England as they beat such an outstanding side, was really a special experience!