England’s Barmy Army general managing director Chris Millard said a short Test wasn’t “ideal” for anyone given the expense and time to travel to Australia.<\/p>\n
“It’s not an ideal situation for the ground, the fans that travel over just for day three, ourselves, who have lost thousands upon thousands and in merchandise,” Millard said.<\/p>\n
“It’s disappointing because we build forecasts based on four-day Test matches and we’ve had two two-day Test matches now, so it has been a significant financial impact on the Barmy Army with not being able to retail from our merchandise vendors at Federation Square.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Barmy Army has been financially impacted after early finishes at both Perth and Melbourne. (Getty Images: Darrian Traynor)<\/p>\n
“But, ultimately, it’s the game of Test cricket over a five-day period and anything can happen, that’s what makes the game so special and so unique.<\/p>\n
“You can have a Test that goes five days, and you get a draw, [or] you can have a game that finishes in two days. It’s a bit of a roller coaster.<\/p>\n
“I think Test cricket fans always know that they’re in for an unstructured ride.”<\/p>\n
England fans spoke to the ABC outside the MCG on what was meant to be day three of the Boxing Day Test, many disappointed with the early finish.<\/p>\n
“We arrived at 11:00 [Saturday] night, so we got off the plane looked at the score and realised we wouldn’t be watching any cricket when we got over here,” one fan said.<\/p>\n
“We’re gutted really, it’s a bit of a bucket list thing the MCG Boxing Day Test.”<\/p>\n
Another support flew in just for day three.<\/p>\n
“This was my one day to get to watch some Ashes cricket and to check it off the bucket list, but [I’m] not going to be able to [that now],” he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Boxing Day Test at the MCG is on many supporters’ bucket lists. (ABC News: Patrick Rocca)<\/p>\n
While another was left “devastated”.<\/p>\n
“We saw the Perth Test finishing in two days, and I was joking with my friends saying I’ll be spending a lot of time around Melbourne Zoo if it’s going to be like this because we’ve got day three and four,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I’m 60 next year, so we thought we’d treat ourselves to a big old sort of trip abroad to my dream thing to come to the Ashes, and it finished in two days.”<\/p>\n
He hoped a contingency plan would exist in similar circumstances.<\/p>\n
“Give the fans something to cheer about, give the guys a taste of the stadium, it’s the MCG,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I’ve never been inside, we’ve booked for the museum, so at least I’ll go [inside], but I prefer to have been there with 90,000 [people].”<\/p>\n
Cricket’s loss is A-League’s win<\/p>\n
Even though it was a disappointing result for fans, the A-League was the beneficiary of the cricket finishing early.<\/p>\n
The England Barmy Army attending both the Perth Glory vs Melbourne City game, as well as the Melbourne Victory vs Wellington Phoenix game on Monday night.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
English supporters during the A-League game between Perth Glory and Melbourne City at AAMI Park on Sunday.\u00a0 (AAP Image: Joel Carrett)<\/p>\n
Melbourne Victory’s managing director Caroline Carnegie said there were more than 500 Barmy Army supporters in the away bay.<\/p>\n
“It was fantastic to have them here,” Carnegie said.<\/p>\n
“I’m sure those that missed out on some of the cricket were disappointed, but I’m also confident that coming along to our game last night will have provided them with something perhaps they weren’t expecting to see \u2026 and walked away with a fantastic experience.”<\/p>\n
England fans Larry Croxton and Ryan Johnson came to Melbourne to watch the cricket, but decided to watch the soccer after the Test wrapped up.<\/p>\n
“We had plans with day three, four and five, but then we decided if we couldn’t do that then we’d come here,” Johnson said.<\/p>\n
“So yeah, managed a last-minute ticket and thought we’d come along.<\/p>\n
“We came here for five days of sport, and we want to kind of max it out.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ryan Johnson (second right) and Larry Croxton (right) at the A-League game with mates.\u00a0 (ABC News: Nethma Dandeniya)<\/p>\n
Food gone to good use<\/p>\n
The quick finish is also expected to cost Cricket Australia more than $10 million in missed revenue, with tickets refunded for a sold-out day three and a well-sold day four.<\/p>\n
Melbourne Cricket Club chief executive Stuart Fox said it donated about 20 pallets of perishables to charity organisation Second Bite, which would give the food to the homeless.<\/p>\n
“I can assure you there’s plenty there and they will be people who need it, who will be really well fed over the next few days, so we will be doing that,” Fox said.<\/p>\n
United Workers Union managing director Godfrey Moase said hundreds and hundreds of hospitality, cleaning, security and ticketing staff had been impacted by the loss of work from the early finish.<\/p>\n
He said many minimum wage workers would be heavily affected by missing out on Sunday rates with the game finishing on Saturday.<\/p>\n
“When you’re living pay cheque to pay cheque and one of your biggest money earning days is gone, then that’s a significant impact,” Moase said.<\/p>\n
“Losing your Sunday shift \u2026 that’s the difference between making rent or being able to pay an electricity bill.<\/p>\n
“It 1767074766 means you’ve got to be hunting around for more work elsewhere or working a second or third job.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
United Workers Union, managing director Godfrey Moase says the early finish heavily impacted MCG staff.\u00a0 (Supplied: Godfrey Moase)<\/p>\n
He said workers in these areas need to have more rights when it comes to events finishing early.<\/p>\n
“It’s a question of who bears the risk, and workers in these situations,” Moase said.\u00a0<\/p>\n