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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
Dan Mackay, as told to Katie Cunningham

The kindness of strangers: The Ashes heat was unbearable. Then a Barmy Army member offered his seats in the shade

Kindness of strangers composite image featuring a member of the Barmy Army among a crowd of cricket fans
‘By the middle of the day, the sun was beaming directly on to our seats. There was no shade and no reprieve.’ Composite: Victoria Hart/Getty Images

We’re great enemies in cricket, England and Australia. So when the Ashes returned this past summer, my son and I travelled from Ballarat to Adelaide to see the showdown in the third Test. It’s a long drive but we made it a boys’ trip, stopping in at pubs and all that nonsense on the way.

It was a great start to the essential cricket pilgrimage. The problem was when we got to the Adelaide Oval, the temperature was a gruelling 40C. Worse still, by the middle of the day, the sun was beaming directly on to our seats. There was no shade and no reprieve.

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