Aaron Finch says Australia will miss the Barmy Army’s abuse on upcoming white ball tour
The Barmy Army has been the scourge of many Aussie sides that have toured England, but Aaron Finch says without them on the playing the old enemy just won’t feel quite the same.
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Australia’s cricketers might have been hammered with personal abuse last time they set foot in the UK, but captain Aaron Finch admits they will still miss the Barmy Army.
The relentlessness of the sledging directed at Australian players during last year’s Ashes series was a major theme of the popular Amazon documentary called The Test, where coach Justin Langer and several leading players expressed disbelief at the viciousness of the abuse.
The Barmy Army has been the scourge of many Australian sides that have toured England, but Finch says without them playing the old enemy just won’t feel quite the same.
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Australia and England are set to do battle from next week in a series of T20 and one-day internationals in front of empty stadiums, and Finch doesn’t necessarily see it as a blessing in disguise taking the crowd out of the contest.
“It’s always good to have a crowd to entertain and the banter. Particularly from English crowds is pretty special. Do they go over the top sometimes? Maybe, yeah. But I think it’s a great thing to be a part of,” said Finch.
“Especially if you beat England over here you know you have to overcome so much. On the field that accounts for a lot as well.
“It will be different but I don’t think it will take away from the intensity of the game whatsoever - not from our point of view.”
Australian players touched down from their private jet in Derby and went straight to the county cricket ground where they were permitted to pull out their wedges and hit golf balls in the outfield.
Players are expected to wear masks and stay within the confines of their quarantine accommodation in the UK, but Finch said the adjustment has not been extreme.
“The curator got some mats out for us so we were hitting some golf balls on the ground, just to be out in the sun,” said Finch.
“That’s as weird as it’s been. We had one beautiful day when we landed here and it hasn’t stopped raining since.
“Most of the guys from Australia, maybe not those from Perth or South Australia, who have been pretty unrestricted in their movements – but everyone else understands and has gone through a little bit of the time like this with COVID and especially from my point of view in Melbourne, we were fully locked down.
“Wearing masks might take a day to get used to and I think just remembering it all the time. Instead of just worrying about your phone and room key, you’ve got your accreditation pass and your mask.
“Most of it is just common sense to be honest.”
Finch praised the appointment of Chris Rogers as Victoria’s new head coach and put a line through his own prospects of playing Test cricket again in the future.
The white ball skipper believes he won’t get enough of an opportunity to play four-day cricket between now and the end of his career and says there are too many talented red ball batsmen coming through the ranks for him to be a realistic chance of reclaiming the spot he held last time India came to Australia two summers ago.
Originally published as Aaron Finch says Australia will miss the Barmy Army’s abuse on upcoming white ball tour