Barmy Army 'making friends'

New Zealand's Beige Brigade smashed its way to victory against England's Barmy Army in Dunedin yesterday. Barmy Army tour organiser Giles Wellington, of Barmouth, said team members were ''drowning their sorrows'' at the pub last night.

''It wasn't close; we got absolutely stuffed. The Beige Brigade got about 229 and we struggled to get 100, but we're all making friends now."

About 100 people gathered at the Gardens ground from 4.30pm to watch the game, which began with a rendition of Jerusalem by the Barmy Army and a modified haka song by the Beige Brigade featuring the lyrics ''we come at you, come at you, bat and ball; we come at you, come at you, bat and ball''.

Many Beige Brigade players hailed from Otago and Southland, including Dunedin resident and University of Otago student Ryan Duffy, originally of Invercargill.

Wearing a beige motorcycle helmet and first to bat, he knocked the confidence of Barmy Army players and supporters from the beginning.

''Having just seen numerous sixes in a row, off one of our best bowlers, I'm not so confident. But we'll out-drink them when we get them in the bar,'' Mr Wellington said as he watched Duffy bat.

Mr Wellington estimated about 1000 England supporters had travelled to Dunedin for this week's test. ''The South Island is so beautiful and the welcome we've had so far exceeds the down side of things being more expensive than in 2008,'' he said.

The rival supporters will compete in Wellington next week, and again before the final test in Auckland on March 22.