"Idiot" steals and damages Barmy Army's iconic trumpet

By Bonnie Jansen

New Zealand Cricket meet the English supporter group, the Barmy Army, and replaced their renowned trumpet after it was stolen and damaged during the Black Caps v England test in Mount Maunganui.

During the middle of classic Barmy Army chants on Saturday, a home fan took the trumpet.

“One idiot just decided to come over whilst Finchy [Simon Finch] was holding his trumpet and lean in snatch it out of his hands and run away with it,” Chris Millard, the group’s managing director said.

When the equipment was eventually found, it was damaged and wouldn’t play properly.

Black Caps bowler Matt Henry and skipper Tim Southee presented a fixed trumpet in a video posted by the Barmy Army.

Finch, who is a professional musician, was clearly upset following the incident as Millard explained.

“If you’re a taxi driver, it’s very similar to someone stealing your car.”

“He gets paid to come out on these tours and play for us, it’s not like he’s just a massive fan and plays for a hobby — he is a professional.”

Millard set the scene for the Herald of how the event played out at Bay Oval on Saturday evening.

“Things were going well for England on the pitch.

“There were a lot of people for that final session when it went dark and when it was night time a lot of people came and gathered around the trumpet player — and our area was just great.

“It’s always good to have an atmosphere and get a lot of interest and people wanting to come and stand with us and sing some songs.”

During that time was when the instrument was snatched.

Millard confirmed someone “luckily” was able to catch him but it was a “real shame”.

That was the second blow the group had faced during the New Zealand tour after earlier in the week money and “sentimental” shirts were stolen in Mount Maunganui.

Graham Barber, also known as “Big G”, had his accommodation broken into while he was attending the test.

The longtime member of the group had his bags stolen, which contained clothes and money.

Millard said that Big G isn’t too worried about these items but more so about T-shirts that carry “sentimental value” that have travelled the world with him since 1998.

“He’s really gutted about that.”

But the managing director wasn’t all doom and gloom about how the week played out saying “things happen”, and said Barber was back at the cricket the next day and “plowing forward”.

“That’s what happens when you travel in big numbers all around the world. We’ve had incidents before, we’ll have incidents again, no doubt,” Millard continued.

“Obviously it’s far from ideal... but we had a fantastic time.”

“It doesn’t take the shining light away from this beautiful country and the amazing place we’re in and how fortunate we are to be doing what we do and follow England around the world.

NZC will meet Finch and other Barmy Army members in Wellington today to finalise final details and replace his trumpet.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission