Leeds: In the afternoon shadows of Headingley’s Western Terrace – the notorious gathering spot in English cricket for disorderly conduct and mischief-making – three burly men stood dragging on cigarettes and sipping beer.
Two of them were draped in ponchos, sported fake moustaches and wore sombreros. The other, a tight-fitting short dress made from the flag of St George, complemented by a blonde wig.
The atmosphere in the stands at Headingley on day one of the third Ashes Test was spirited, but most fans were well behaved.Credit: Reuters
Out of nowhere, a rowdy Australia arrived in a gold XXXX bucket hat and Hawaiian shirt.
“Which one of your whinging Pommy bastards has got a light?” he yelled at the top of his voice.
All three men offered up instantly, smiles on their faces. By the time the quartet had stubbed out their butts they were talking about meeting up at a nearby pub at the end of play.
“We all like to shit-stir a bit don’t we?” the Adelaide man, Hamish Davison, says. “It’s all a bit of fun, hey? We all love our cricket.”
Mitch Marsh’s swashbuckling century gave the Aussie fans something to cheer about at Headingley on day one of the third Ashes Test.Credit: Getty Images
Back in the stands, they booed, they cheered, sang, threw beach balls as if it was a pantomime. And despite the beer flowing (they’d cleared more than £100,000 worth of booze by 2pm), there was a good-natured rivalry. The warnings of trouble and tension came to nothing.
The Barmy Army, the name given to England’s travelling cricket fans, was at full voice. Their trumpeter, Simon, seemed to barely draw breath.
To the tune of The Beatles classic Twist And Shout, they honoured England’s hero Mark Wood, who skittled the Australians to claim five wickets.
Oh shake it up Woody now (Shake it up Woody)
Pace and bounce (Pace and bounce)
C’mon c’mon c’mon Woody now (C’mon Woody)
Come on and bowl ’em out (Bowl ’em all out)
They gave Australian David Warner a mighty send-off, booed, waved former skipper Steve Smith to and from the crease in his 100th Test, and – predictably – chanted “cheat” at wicketkeeper Alex Carey following his stumping of Jonny Bairstow at Lord’s earlier this week. You’d have to be highly strung to be too upset. This was a typical Leeds welcome.
They gave a ground filled with 18,000 fans the feel of a soccer stadium. Local Yorkshire lad and English star Joe Root had urged fans to “support England” ahead of the game, fearing the febrile atmosphere from Lord’s on Sunday could spill onto the working-class terraces of Leeds.
“Support your team to the best of your ability – we’ll play to the best of ours,” Root had said. “Create that brilliant atmosphere that has been created on this ground on so many previous occasions, and we should have a fantastic week.”
Ten years ago the terrace was renamed The White Rose Stand as part of Yorkshire’s drive to make the ground a more pleasant environment to watch cricket. It didn’t catch on. While the terrace has retained its rowdy atmosphere, its occupants on Thursday didn’t have to make up their own entertainment as a thrilling day of cricket kept most captivated.
Rival skippers Pat Cummins and Ben Stokes at the coin toss.Credit: Getty Images
Barmy Army member George Gallantree had promised the terrace would be “louder than a Taylor Swift concert” as the home side stared down the prospect of an Ashes series loss after dropping the opening two Tests. He and his fellow travellers delivered.
And if the thousands of Australians in the ground here worried about the reception they’d receive, they did not show it. Large sections of the grandstands were kitted out in green and gold. The Australians found their voice as Mitch Marsh careered towards a swashbuckling century.
When he hit a powerful drive for four down the ground, a man in a South Sydney jumper bounced to his feet and cheered. Across the ground, four men in Collingwood, Richmond, North Melbourne and Geelong guernseys singled the boundary.
And in gathering places out the back of the stands, young Aussie men and women alike chatted with England fans over a drink.
Kylie Febbo and her friend Lisa Kosch met at secondary school 40 years ago in regional Victoria, and had always wanted to watch an Ashes series in England. They joined a touring party and arrived for the Lord’s Test then travelled to Leeds in the past few days.
“We were expecting to get here today and be absolutely bullied,” Kylie said, saying the pair had “copped a bit of stick” as tensions boiled over following England’s loss in the second Test.
“With everything that’s happened, we were worried about walking by ourselves, but nothing has happened at all. They’ve all been great.”
Lisa, too, said things had turned “pretty nasty” at Lord’s, but Headingley – so far – had been a friendly atmosphere.
“Today’s been brilliant to be honest,” she said. “This is the dream we have dreamed of doing ever since we were at school at Mortlake, and it’s been incredible really.”
Friendly banter about convicts was met with retorts of soap-dodging and warm beer. There were, too, some concessions that Jonny Bairstow’s stumping mightn’t have been as bad as it was made out.
“If it was the other way around I’d have loved it,” conceded England fan Matthew Harrison, who’d travelled from Hartlepool. “If it was the other way around you wouldn’t complain.”
Tim Davies and his wife, Rachel, from Sheffield, said everyone should move on, but perhaps Australia’s mistake was that the drama had revved England up.
“Who knows, it might fire the boys up now,” said Tim. “Jonny shouldn’t have left his crease, for me. But maybe the real mistake was getting Ben Stokes angry; we’ve seen how that ends”.
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