The Likely Lads

Rather belatedly, here's an interesting post by Norm on his experiences at the Old Trafford test earlier this season.

A few random thoughts: -

There's a big difference in crowd behaviour on a Saturday compared with other days. Even Sunday is quieter than Saturday - presumably all the 'lads' are in church...

Trent Bridge have a specific stand that is 'alcohol free' and clearly advertised as such. I'm surprised that other grounds have not introduced such a scheme - it's easy to enforce. At Durham they've even gone so far as to have a 'Barmy Army' stand - the theory being that if all the noise is in one place, it's easier to police/steward.

One problem the 'official' Barmy Army have is that they are attracting every pissed up arsehole who sees a day at the Test as an opportunity for an eight hour drinking binge, whilst paying little or no attention to what is actually going on in the middle. The 'official Army are fantastic people - passionate about cricket, and about following the England team abroad. The parasitical leeches who are now clinging to them are only passionate about themselves. There's going to be a backlash from the authorities pretty soon - which means that all genuine cricket lovers within the Barmy Army will suffer.

Another thing grounds could do is to improve the standards of stewarding. More often than not, when I've seen someone complaining to a steward about the drunken antics of a minority the response has been to have a 'quiet word' with the culprits and then leave them to carry on with their 'hilarious' behaviour five minutes later.

Another alternative would be to take a leaf out of the MCG book and serve weaker beer.

Another (slightly tongue in cheek) suggestion - deny entry to the ground to anyone wearing an England football shirt.