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THE BARMY ARMY ASHES TOUR 2002-03 The best tip that we can give you is, If there is any way you can afford to go to Australia to watch the Ashes, do it! It is the ultimate test series, the grounds are excellent, there are almost 3 dollars to the pound making the tickets, booze, accommodation, internal travel all very cheap and when you throw in the weather, the beaches and the women you have all the ingredients for a fantastic holiday. Throw in a few thousand like minded people who love cricket and to party and you've got the Barmy Army, it's free to join and it should be the best holiday you've ever had. There are many misconceptions about the Barmy Army and one of these is that it is a cliquey elitist group, that you can't be a part of unless you've been on at least 2 or 3 previous tours and personally know the main boys (whoever they may be). The facts are that anybody can join the Barmy Army on tour, there isn't a membership scheme and anybody who wants to support England, sing some songs, party hard and enjoy themselves is welcome to join in. There is obviously a small group of us who have been on previous tours and know each other, so when a new tour begins we group up together at the ground and kick a few songs off, head off to the same pub at lunchtime and after the game. This makes it easy for anyone on their first tour, come and join us, the more the merrier, introduce yourselves, start chatting, get more friends to join and suddenly an army is forming for a new campaign. Anyone can join the Barmy Army and during the last series one of our biggest characters was a 79 year old called Jack Hyams, who spent the whole tour in dorm backpackers and travelled by car, so whether you're 18 or 80, male or female – get involved. Every tour introduces new characters, many of whom go on and watch subsequent tours, others drop out as responsibilities, jobs or family life catch up with them, so the group is constantly evolving with only the name staying the same. Our greatest achievement has been to show you that watching England abroad is no longer the preserve of the rich and famous, it can be done very easily and cheaply on a tight budget and most importantly it will be a great crack watching England lose, draw and occasionally win. We are very lucky that we enjoy a great relationship with the Australian public, they appreciate and applaud our loyalty, humour and singing – they love the banter and atmosphere and there's never any trouble. The players are openly supportive of us and there's been many times when they've gone out of their way to party with us. We've learnt a great deal of the best and cheapest ways to watch the cricket in Australia and we hope that the following guidelines will be useful when planning your trip: TOP TIP – TRAVEL INDEPENDANTLY Whatever you do, do not be conned into thinking that the only way you can go to Australia and watch the Ashes is with an organised tour. They are very expensive and offer poor value, you are cooped up with a whole cross section of people, many of whom represent the traditional style of supporter (old, stuffy and pompous), you stay in overpriced hotels, are bussed in and out of the grounds ( similar to watching England football but without the police escorts!) and if you are really unlucky have an ex pro as a tour guide whose main priority is to lose his guests and come out drinking with us. The answer is simple, organise your own flights to Australia and when you get there finding accommodation, getting hold of tickets and arranging internal transport is easy. So just go to a travel agent and book your own return flight, do it on -line to save even more, there's so many companies in this market that prices are hugely competitive, the best known are probably Austravel, Trailfinders and Bridge the World, Depending on the time of year you are travelling (Christmas is more expensive), we anticipate that flight costs will be around £700-800, you might also be able top get a free internal flight as part of the deal.. The earlier you can book your flight the better the deal you are likely to get. The flight will inevitably involve a stop-over and it will take about 24 hours to get to Australia. Don't worry about travelling on your own, as soon as you get to Oz you will meet hundreds of people who have done exactly the same thing and you also have the massive advantage of being able to do what you like, when you want and who with, without having to answer to anyone! 2ND TOP TIP Make sure than go and watch the test matches as opposed to the One Dayer's. There are a number of key reasons for saying this, firstly the tests mean everything, nobody remembers (or really cares for that matter) about the results of the one dayers. Secondly our support at the test matches is brilliant, it is smaller and it is much harder to group up together at the One Dayer's against Australia which cuts down on the atnosphere. Thirdly the average Aussie gets totally off their faces at the day nighters, fights amongst themselves are commonplace and you'll probably recall golf balls been thrown at the players etc. When there's only a few of you don't need this kind of aggravation and 6 hours of Pommies are Wankers, Aussie Aussie, Aussie Oi Oi Oi and Pommies take it up the arse gets a little tiresome. Saying all of the above I'm sure you've all fancied a day nighter at the MCG or SCG, so if you get the chance to go take it, but remember the result doesn't really matter as there are so many insignificant games set up to fleece the locals of their hard earned cash. WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU ARRIVE AT THE AIRPORT Arriving at any airport overseas can be daunting, especially if you are travelling on your own, but you really don't need to worry about Australia, it is so easy to get a bed on the first night of your stay. As soon as you come through passport control; you will that several backpackers hostels have sent one of their reps ( normally a Brit) to the airport with a courtesy bus to pick you up. They will offer a free lift to the hostel and a guaranteed bed, once you're there you'll almost always guaranteed to meet other cricket fans who either been abroad with the Barmy Army before or who are just waiting to become a part of it. If you're not sure what to do, wear a cricket top, crack open a beer and ask about the best boozers to go to in town. You can even prebook hostels from the U.K if you want and during the last tour a large group of us stayed in the Nomads chain of hostels where a dorm bed costed about £8 per night, a single around £15. If you have a bigger budget there are courtesy phones for the hotel chains and once again they will come and pick you up. The hostels are a great place to find out up to date information on where else to stay in the country, where to drink/ visit etc and they will all have the free publications like TNT which will offer special deals on everything you will ever need. If you are planning to do a long tour it pains me to recommend a book like The Lonely Planet, the backpacker bible with out of date information about everything you could conceivably want to do whilst in Oz (except provide info on the cricket). MATCH TICKETS This will be a very pleasant surprise, tickets were around £20 for a 5 day ground admission pass last time. You must buy these tickets when you get to Australia, don't whatever you do go through a travel agent who will charge their guests around £25-30 per/day, it's a massive scam and you don't know you've been ripped off until it's too late. Tickets do not sell out for the tests in Australia, the only slightly dodgy day is the first day of the Sydney test. The majority of tickets for any sporting or concert events in Australia are sold through a company called Ticket –Tek and they have booths in all of the major City Centre shopping malls. Alternatively go down to the ground and the ticket office. If you want to be with the majority of Barmy Army fans go for the general admission tickets, you won't find us in the expensive seats. If you have a student card try and get a discount on these tickets, you can normally save 33% but strictly the discount only applies to Aussie students, although many outlets don't care and give you the discount anyway! For more information on ticket prices and selling outlets go to www.cricinfo.com and check out the forthcoming series section which has a link to the baggygreen site giving details on all venues. Tickets are on sale from 1 August 2002 but as we say don't be fooled into thinking you have to buy them now. INTERNAL TRAVEL Distances between the grounds in Australia are vast and some forward planning is strongly advised when the itinerary comes out. The easiest and fastest way to get around is to organise internal flights, these are cheap and work out at around £100 between cities. You can get 1/3 off the cost of any internal flight as an overseas traveller, you just need to take your passport and international tickets to the airport or booking office. There are deals if you buy internal flights in the U.K before you leave but similar deals are available in Oz and you can book direct with the airlines. I would recommend that an internal flight is prebooked in advance if you are travelling between Sydney and Melbourne between the Christmas and New Year tests as demand from England fans is so huge. Buses are the cheapest option and if the budget is tight this could be the answer for the shorter journeys, albeit 24 hours from Sydney to Brisbane and the 12 hour Sydney to Melbourne trip. Those who are keen on going on one of the great train journeys of the world could well be tempted by the 3 day train journey across the Nullabor for the Perth and Adelaide tests. Hiring cars is a cheap and practical option and gives you the advantage of some sightseeing along the way, the Great Ocean Road between Adelaide and Melbourne is well worth a visit. You can get discounts on car hire with any of the backpacker discount cards from Nomads, VIP or YHA. WHICH MATCHES SHOULD I GO TO? If we could tell you which matches England are going to win, then that would be the easy answer. Anyone fortunate enough to be at the Adelaide Oval in 95 and the MCG in 99 will tell you the atmosphere was unbelievable and the celebrations absolutely incredible. For those fortunate enough to watch the whole tour, just to win one test is what you dream of, to invade the pitch, the victory songs, the partying, to win away from home, it's what you came to Australia for. However Sydney should be flagged up, 5000 England fans on the Hill, our largest support and some great nights out makes it the most popular venue. Much will depend on when you can get out to Australia but our advice if time is short is to take in the back to back tests at Adelaide and Perth or Melbourne and Sydney. The dates of the test matches are as follows: Thursday 7 – Monday 11 November Brisbane WHAT WILL IT COST? This will obviously depend on a large number of factors, not least the length of time you are planning to go for, but to give a rough idea for a 3 week/2 test trip doing it as cheaply as possible we reckon the following: Fixed Costs Spending Money Obviously these will differ big time but remember booze is cheap with an exchange rate of around 2.5-3 dollars to the pound. It should be possible to get suitably hammered and be well fed for £50/day, so on a 3 week trip you can reckon on about £1000 spending money. If you plan to go sight seeing/ do trips then add these costs to your budget. Minimum £1000 So you need to look at around £2200 all in for a 3 week holiday.
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