<P> The Barmy Army is a semi-organised group of English cricket fans which arranges touring parties for some of its members to follow the English cricket team on overseas tours . The name is also applied to followers of the team who join in with match day activities in the crowd, but do not necessarily travel as part of an organised tour . </P> <P> The group, then less organised, was given its name by the Australian media during the 1994 - 1995 Test series in Australia, reportedly for the fans' audacity in travelling to Australia in the near - certain knowledge that their team would lose, and the fact that they kept on chanting even when England were losing quite badly . It was co-founded by Paul Burnham . </P> <P> The Barmy Army, which is a limited company, claims it wants to "make watching cricket more fun and much more popular". The group uses flags, banners, songs and chants to encourage the team and crowd participation in their activities . In contrast to the reputations of some sports fans for hooliganism, the Barmy Army organisers actively discourage such behaviour . </P> <P> The group engages in charity work, and has a good reputation among cricket administrators and among some other fans . However, some cricket followers find the chanting of the Barmy Army to be annoying, lowbrow and disruptive and the late cricket writer / commentator Christopher Martin - Jenkins accused the Army of "demeaning English cricket". </P>

What australian cricket fans called british cricket fans