Do the Barmies feel no pain?

Television footage of a glum England team as it trolleyed through Gatwick yesteday provided bleak viewing but at least they were not welcomed into arrivals by a chorus of singing Barmies.

Is this cricket fan alone in feeling weary of praise showered on the impossibly upbeat fans who follow the England team? Only this week, their Pollyana approach to sport-watching moved to Duncan Fletcher to claim that world cricket needed England at its zenith. Why? Because, the former England coach concluded, the side attracts the most passionate fans.

That is patently untrue. How can you properly feel the joy of success if you are not also moved by failure? Nobody should advocate the cartoon-short fuse of the England football fan, but is some of their circumspection not built into the wiring of every sports supporter, particularly when your side want much of your money and time?

Sure, a side should expect support when they struggle despite their best efforts, but not also when they succumb to the the kind of timidity and indiscipline that did for England in the World Cup.