Travel & Tour Nowhere

Has cricket tourism reached its saturation point? The news that Travel & Tours Anywhere, the Barmy Army's licensed operator, has ceased trading with its membership revoked last month by ABTA will surely change the way travel groups do business in the future.

Poor World Cup sales forced TTA to close, but the Ashes Down Under also proved to be a loser. This also applied to the many travel groups who sold packages to Australia. The prices were simply too extreme to follow all five Tests. The initial mass demand for tickets never materialised and individual travellers from the UK cottoned on to this after touts were left holding batches of tickets for the 2003 Rugby World Cup Final. For those wise independent fans, it was the same for the first four Tests in Australia where it was more than easy to obtain face value tickets for every day of the Tests.

Tourism industry insiders have revealed to this blogger that saturation point has already hit tour companies and the news that cricket's biggest army has just lost its tour arm only proves that.

*It remains to be seen if the ICC see sense, too, in making the group stages of the 2011 World Cup free entry. Only then will fans afford the 40-day jamboree proclaimed by Malcolm Speed for the Asia tournament.

Borat lights up Beausejour

Where's the Marley music?

The 1999 World Cup fireworks were something of a damp squib, but I'm sure the Caribbean authorities are busy preparing what should be a markedly better opening ceremony next March.

Its hard-worked, authoritative media department hasn't been short on its press releases either this year. With the tournament just months away now, one such email popped into my inbox at the weekend, highlighting the island launch of the official Cricket World Cup song "The Game of Love and Unity".

I was half-expecting a decent track too: a touch of the Bob Marley and Pete Tosh vibe, happy steel drum tones and a general Caribbean beat. That was before I remembered it was a tournament song. Judge for yourself by listening to it here. And you can try and keep up with the lyrics here. Thoughts? This won't even make the Easter sale rack in my local Dub records store back home.

Adelaide aperture

More fans in Adelaide. Hoggy won't be happy.

South Australia snaps

A few photos from out and about in the crowd on Sunday: chin-strapped Adelaide Old Bill, the old scoreboard after Ponting's ton (but showing England's 551), Aqua-style headgear and a Blighty hat (silly Ascot fashion-watchers take note).

Adelaide Diary: Poker, spin & sledges

By far the best Adelaide station to wake up to - in my case 4am at the moment - is Triple M. The Adelaide version had 12th Man creator Billy Birmingham on this morning talking about its success, and Nutley was quick enough to record the classic interview. There is a new 12th Man CD out which features a Kerry Packer sketch; Richie phones up heaven and interrupts a poker game with the late media magnate, the Apostles and Jesus. You'll hear me laughing in the background during this mmmarvellous bit of comedy, and you can download it here.
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There is something rhythmical watching Australia in the nets. The day before the fifth Test at the Oval last summer, it was England who had the confidence: Trescothick, Strauss, Bell and Flintoff batting as one in the nets, almost at ease with everything going on around them. Yesterday, Australia looked the part: Gilchrist pulling effortlessly, Ponting making the net bowlers look just that, and Warne, with one pad on, playing the six balls left, 10 to win game. He then treated the 100 spectators to a spin class with the aid of mentor Terry Jenner, who was helping his pupil with flight and drift in a particularly long session.
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After yesterday's news of a possible Adelaide streak, last night witnessed humiliation for one Aussie at least. A mad-keen supporter named Simon had a bet last year that England would not win the Ashes. At 5pm he had to walk across the Birkenhead Bridge in Port Adelaide in nothing but a pair of Union Jack underpants. Local businesses and people from the community saw him take the "Walk of Shame", although it is not known whether he has since tipped England to regain the urn.
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It may be day one in Adelaide (and for UK readers, waking up at last to a promising start) but England could have been reminded of what might have been in Brisbane, thanks to a You Tube clip sent in by Dan. Ian Botham blasting 22 in one over off Merv Hughes is classic Beef on ball stuff. There is one rarely heard sledge surrounding this over - coming from one of the Swerve's own team-mates. When Dean Jones tossed the ball back to Hughes after a huge flay from Beefy, he said: "Jeez, Merv, that one went so far it should have qualified for frequent flyer points."

Brisbane blues

Several England batsmen are going to have to score some big runs to deny Australia an emphatic first Test victory, with two days left.

I won't be posting for a few days as off to Australia in the morning. I was rueing the decision to fly during the Test but it's not so bad now. In the meantime do leave messages below on your thoughts from the Brisbane Test; maybe there will be some Ashes salvation when I find out the outcome of the game on Monday?

In the meantime, a couple of Aussie links have been sent my way. Firstly, ballooning over Brisbane (possibly to spot Harmy's wayward deliveries) is apparently a great way to see the city and watch Barmy Army regulars stumbling back to their city hotels.

Secondly, an Aussie blog worth checking out here, event though the strapline suggests it being "Virutally (sic) unintelligible to non-Australians". See you in a few days!

Brisbane or Bus-t

Lacking tickets for the Ashes series? Can you pass off a Kevin 'Bloody' Wilson impression? The Brits somehow always manage to blag their way into sporting events, but this could top them all.

The Fanatics, Australia's equivalent to the Barmy Army, are giving 6-10 supporters the chance to earn their place on a specially-prepared Tour of Duty bus (above) for the entire Ashes trip. Only thing is, you have to be Australian.

The Fanatics website will next week release details on how to get on the bus, but in the meantime here's what you could be enjoying for the next two months according to their site:

"...tickets to the matches, some semi-cool Fanatics gear, token BBQ dinners, a few cold ones, the time of your life & hopefully a barn to sleep in on the way. We have radio, newspapers & tv stations lined up so it will be massive."

Cricket World's Island Diary No.4

The Asgiriya Stadium is staffed with knowledgable employees to help keep avid cricket fans up to date in the Test match. Unlike in Galle, there is a public announcer with details at each fall of wicket as well as landmark statistics. But it is the scoreboard operators that provoke more interest where around six young staff are manned. 24-year-old chief operator Naalem has been working at the ground for 12 years and his love for the game has seen him witness Marvan Attapattu's double century against Pakistan as well as favourite players Nasser Hussain and Chaminda Vaas.

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Kandy, dubbed the Manchester of Sri Lanka due to its indifferent rain patterns, is set to hold two international stadiums by August 2004, when the Pallekele venue, around 7kms from the city, is expected to be completed. Sri Lankan cricket signed an understanding in October with the stadium owners while the governing body is in talks with a foreign bank which would see international cricket being played for the next 10 years.

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Barmy Army rival group 'Wavy Navy', which first could be heard during the first Test in Galle, have arrived in force in Kandy. Although the group will have to wait until the third Test in the sea-port capital Colombo before they will feel at ease, t-shirts have been made and humorous, light-hearted exchanges heard between the two sets of fans. Under the signature 'Why join the Army when you can join the Navy', only around 10 t-shirts have been seen in the 30 rupee (18p) section of the ground.

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Finally, England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff's sweet smell of success with the bat may not be down to him bearing the fruits of hard work in the nets. He is also carrying a strawberry logo on the bottom of his bat this winter as part of a promotional push for girlfriend Rachel's new pr company.