Cricket fan shares details of flightless ride from England to Australia to watch Ashes series

A young cricket fan is going to extraordinary lengths to watch this year’s Ashes series, travelling from Manchester to Australia without catching a single flight.

The 18-year-old, Tommy Lamb, is documenting his trip on his Instagram page, @cheese_naan_on_tour, and is currently somewhere between Bangkok and his next border crossing as he attempts to arrive in Australia in time for the Test in Adelaide (which kicks off on December 17 and is live and free on Seven and 7plus sport).

The wild ride started back in August and Lamb has spent more than $8000 and travelled across 12 countries in three months in his bid to get to the Adelaide Test on time.

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But he says he is lucky to be alive after a motorbike crash in Vietnam that landed him in hospital.

“I’m on the way from England to Australia to watch the Ashes without stepping on a plane,” he told Triple M’s The Rush Hour with JB & Billy.

“I’m in Bangkok at the moment and I’m aiming to get to Adelaide for the third Test, but we’ll have to see how this final leg of the journey goes first.”

Tommy Lamb is attempting to travel from Manchester to Australia without catching a flight in a bid to watch the Adelaide Ashes Test. Credit: @cheese_naan_on_tour

Lamb has spent around 4000 pound on trains, buses, cars and whatever and was asked why he didn’t just buy a flight.

But his response is simple, plane trips are boring.

“Uh… I think this is more fun,” he said.

“The flight gets a bit boring after 24 hours whereas it turns out land travel can be quite fun.

“It’s taken me to loads of places I wouldn’t have expected to go. I’m very grateful to be able to do it and that it’s been already so far.”

The wild journey has so far seen Lamb sleep in a cave in Iran and, of course, crash his motorbike in Vietnam.

“I’m grateful I could keep going and that I’m still alive after that, to be honest,” he said.

“I spent a few days in hospital, and then a few days in a hotel, recovering.”

Lamb admitted he packed “far too much” but was determined to take a cricket bat and ball so he could play cricket in every place he stayed.

He said the weirdest moment on his trip so far was arguably playing cricket with an Iranian Mullah and getting bowled an absolute beamer by him.

“That was a strange one,” he said.

“He clearly wasn’t very happy with the questions I was asking before I asked him to play some cricket with me. Sleeping in a cave in Iran was a bit of a worrying time.”

Lamb is a member of England’s famous Barmy Army.

He said he caught a bit of the first Test and “watched England’s collapse and Travis Head knocking us about”.

“I was busy on the road for the last 36 hours so I was hoping the Test would last a little longer,” he said.

He’s now trying to secure a cargo ship from Singapore or Bali to complete the final leg of his wild journey.

“Hopefully (I can make it),” he said.

“That’s dependent on how lucky I am with a boat from Singapore or Bali … I’m hoping to get to Singapore as quickly as I can and from there, I can start searching for a cargo ship.”