Barmy Army boss chucks tantrum over The West Australian’s coverage of England side, refuses to be interviewed

England’s self described “fun-loving” Barmy Army have been exposed as a bunch of sooks, “boycotting” talking to The West Australian in a tantrum over coverage of the English side in the lead-up to the first Ashes Test. Barmy Army managing director Chris Millard declined to be interviewed when approached by The West at Optus Stadium on Friday. The West was directed to a media manager who said the group would be “unfortunately” boycotting The West, labelling its coverage “unfair” towards their team. It puts the group at odds with their own supporters like Joe Rand and Jack Morris who say sledging is part and parcel of the game. “We expect nothing less, we go hard when the Australians tour back home (in the UK),” Mr Rand said. “If you dish it out, you have to be able to take it - that’s what its all about, no one means what they say.” The boys said this was their first time travelling to Perth and they had nothing but praise for the Australian fans. “It’s like being on tour with 50,000 of your mates but half of them support the wrong team,” Mr Morris said. “We’re all here for a good time as long as the Aussies don’t lose it when we wipe the floor on day one.” On Thursday, former England captain Michael Vaughan declared The West as his “new favourite paper” and said its viral coverage has helped put a rocket under the blockbuster Ashes series. He said the coverage was helping build the hype ahead of the first ball at Perth Stadium on Friday. “I reckon it’s fantastic, it’s all a bit of fun, isn’t it?” he said. “We went through the front pages one by one and had a bit of a laugh.”