The Barmy Army say they’ve ‘gotten over it’. So what’s their issue with this Carey-Bairstow ad?

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Cricket Australia are using Alex Carey’s controversial 2023 stumping of Jonny Bairstow in their marketing material for the Boxing Day Test – and it’s riled a senior member of the “Barmy Army”.

The flashpoint of the bitter series two years ago is the opening highlight of a 15-second advertisement CA has run for about three months to promote the marquee Test.

The “You need to see it” promotion begins with Carey, dressed in his whites, wicket-keeping gear and baggy green, telling viewers “it’s the chaos”, before cutting to footage of the contentious dismissal in the Lord’s Test and the tense conversation between England captain Ben Stokes and the umpires.

The governing body’s call to use the polarising moment in the ad – overlaid with the Hunters & Collectors’ 1987 classic Do you see what I see? – reflects the approval from an overwhelming majority of Australian cricket fans for Carey’s play.

Alex Carey’s stumping of Jonny Bairstow features in a Cricket Australia advertisement for the Boxing Day Test.

A senior member of England’s famous “Barmy Army” supporter group has no beef with Carey’s actions – which are permitted in the laws of cricket but sparked an international discussion about the spirit of the game– but is not impressed with the advertisement.

“I just think it’s not very creative,” Tony Emmerson, who runs the Melbourne and Sydney groups of the “Barmy Army” told this masthead.

The moment Bairstow was controversially stumped.

“I’m sure they could’ve come up with something a little bit more creative or thought-provoking. It goes to the creativity the Australians put into writing their songs – ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!’”

Emmerson, who goes by the nickname of “Fun Time Tony”, said CA should have instead used Stuart Broad’s final moments as a Test player, when he hit the final ball he faced for a six and claimed a wicket with his final delivery.

“That’s true Ashes cricket,” Emmerson said. “We know how much the Australians love Stuart Broad.”

Unlike many English fans, Emmerson accepts that Carey and the Australians did nothing wrong in claiming Bairstow’s wicket in such a fashion.

“As far as I’m concerned, there is a level of spirit of cricket and the rules of cricket, and the rules of cricket win the day,” Emmerson said.

“I think we’ve gotten over it. It was one of those things. The biggest disappointment was England was going to win the Test match – that was the most annoying thing about it.

“Most English people have gotten over it. I don’t think they boo Carey any more. They’re fair-minded. The guy’s wicketkeeping last Test match was superb. They’re big enough to recognise that, and they understand cricket well enough to see someone who has done well.”

CA explained why they chose to include that passage of play in their campaign.

“The advertisement, which has run on various platforms for three months, includes, in a respectful manner, a dramatic and oft-replayed moment that exemplifies the heightened intensity of the Ashes rivalry,” a CA spokesperson told this masthead.

“We’re really pleased with the response to our Ashes marketing campaign, which has contributed strongly to the enormous crowds and viewing audiences for the series so far.”

With ticket allocations exhausted for the first two days of the Boxing Day Test, there’s every chance the record for the highest crowd in a day of Test cricket – 91,092, set in Melbourne during Australia’s 2013/14 Ashes whitewash – will fall.

Meanwhile, a group of England’s players hit the fairways on the third day of their mid-tour getaway in Noosa. Players were filmed having a hit at the Maroochy River Golf Club, which charges players $115 for 18 holes.

The England squad travel to Adelaide on Saturday and commence training on Sunday for the third Test starting next Wednesday.