Ashes cancellation can lead to the Barmy Army becoming bankrupt

The ongoing impasse between Cricket Australia and the Australian players has already seen its first casualty as Australia A boycotted the tour to South Africa. Now, the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh is in jeopardy and even though, Ashes is later this year, it is likely to stand canceled.

Not only has this damaged Australia’s reputation in cricket but it could render England’s ‘Barmy Army’, the nation’s most famous cricket fan group of supporters bankrupt.

The pay dispute between Cricket Australia (CA) and Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) has already missed the June 30 deadline and more than 200 men and women cricketers are currently unemployed. The Ashes 2017-18 begins November 23 at The Gabba in Brisbane and unless there is a headway in the deadlock, the most awaited Test series might not take place.

England have already announced that their men and women’s team will not be touring Australia in case the payment dispute is not sorted out in desired time. This leaves the Barmy Army, the noisy supporters of the English cricket team who turn up in large numbers to support their team irrespective of where it is playing, with the risk of losing a big amount of money on the bookings they have already made.

According to The Telegraph, the co-founder of the Barmy Army, Dave Peacock says that the organization has already paid up money in advance for close to 30,000 England fans expected in Australia. “There are 30,000-plus fans travelling to Australia this year, and they’ve already booked their flights, hotels, tickets and tour.”

“We’re already committed to paying for all of this, as well as things like Christmas dinner for 800 to 1000… all our merchandising and T-shirts, and plans for a massive New Year’s Eve party in Sydney… From a logistical point of view, we would go bust if it didn’t go ahead,” Peacock was quoted as saying by Fairfax Media, as reported by Hindustan Times.

Peacock informed that 1,100 fans have already booked the official tour, which is double the count from England’s last trip to Australia in 2013-14. “[The Ashes] is on the bucket list of so many sports fans who’ve shelled out between GBP 15,000 and 20,000 for the 51 days [of the series]. Why can’t they get on and talk together and negotiate together and thrash out a deal so we can all get on and plan ahead?” he urged.

Next on the line in the national team’s tours after Bangladesh is a limited overs series against India, which also faces a threat in terms of possibility, if the required mediation and negotiation does not take place in time.