The Australia legends Adam Gilchrist and Damien Fleming are among those who have criticised the decision to allocate the famous bay 13 of the Melbourne Cricket Ground to England fans for the Boxing Day Ashes Test.
Bay 13 is renowned as one of the most colourful and boisterous areas of the MCG, historically a favoured gathering spot for younger, rowdier Australia fans. This section is typically a hub of activity on match days, featuring elaborate fancy dress, general high spirits, and chants and songs directed good-naturedly, and sometimes less so, at the touring English team.
England’s supporters’ group, the Barmy Army, are now set to occupy one of the most culturally significant areas of the 100,000-seat stadium, a move that has ruffled the feathers of former players and many traditional Australia fans on the eve of the Ashes.
It holds a near-sacred status for many supporters but for this series bay 13, as well as the neighbouring blocks 11, 12 and 14, have been allocated as an “England fan zone”.
England’s Barmy Army are renowned for giving Australian players a tough time… here they berate Brett Lee in Brisbane
WILLIAM WEST/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Speaking to Code Sports, Gilchrist, the former wicketkeeper-batsman, said: “It’s un-Australian, I say that tongue in cheek of course. Good on them [the Barmy Army] for getting in early enough to book it, I guess. It’s going to create a good, fun atmosphere and I can see the smirk on their faces as they roll in there each day knowing they’ve kept the locals out.
“It will be interesting to see the reaction from the locals, I think they’d be disappointed to not be a part of such a historic precinct of the ground.”
The block has been the backdrop for some memorable moments in Australian cricket history, including the famous photograph of the legendary fast bowler Merv Hughes fielding on the boundary. When Hughes began his unique stretching routine, the fans in bay 13 began to copy him, swaying in unison, and the footage was added to the list of memorable Ashes moments.
Former pace bowler Fleming expressed an even stronger reaction to the news, saying it made him feel “sick”. “Merv Hughes is turning in his grave and he isn’t even dead,” Fleming told Code Sports.
He added, half-jokingly, a plea to the locals: “We need to arm bay 13, we need Merv, we need people to dress up as Merv, we could maybe get Dippa [Robert DiPierdomenico, the former Aussie Rules player]. I want Merv lookalikes dominating bay 13, make sure it happens. I’m sick; that’s … I’m sick.”
About 40,000 England supporters are expected to attend across the five Ashes Tests but it is the Christmas and new year Tests in Melbourne and Sydney that are the most popular, with thousands expected to be at the MCG over the course of the five-day Boxing Day Test. The Barmy Army’s official Christmas Day lunch will be attended by 1,500 people and the four allocated England fan zone blocks will be full.