A Launceston-raised trumpeter will be thrusted onto the national stage, leading the Barmy Army throughout Tasmania's historic Ashes Test at Bellerive Oval.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The former Riverside High School student Darcy O'Malley will provide the base tune for accompanying bellowing English voices with many Northern Tasmanian cricket fans looking to make the pilgrimage south to hopefully see Australia retain the urn 4-nil.
"A trumpet-playing friend of mine in Hobart sent me a Facebook message asking if I would be interested and I said 'sure'," Mr O'Malley explained.
He moved to Melbourne at 21, but before he left Tasmania he had cut his teeth playing across the state.
"I was always very lucky to be involved in great band programs growing up," he said.
"When I moved to Launceston I was really lucky to be part of the Esk band program.
Mr O'Malley has just completed three years at the Australian National Academy of Music.
"While I was there I did some work with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra as a casual freelance player," he said. "That's been my main orchestral experience over the last couple of years."
While the tunes that Mr O'Malley will be called upon to play at the cricket won't be from his usual repertoire, he's confident he can do the job.
"Each player across each test has a different tune so there's been lots of memorising, but it will be fun," he said.
COVID-19 issues had meant that the usual contingent of Barmy Army members couldn't make it to Australian shores, which meant a new trumpeter had to be used for each of the five Ashes tests.
"I enjoy it, and my Mum was born in England so I feel like that is a good reason to be involved with England," he said.
Meanwhile, a group of cricket loving friends will be heading down to Hobart over the next few days to catch a glimpse of Ashes cricket - Tasmanian style.
Members of the Evandale Panthers Cricket Club will begin to arrive in Hobart on Friday.
"There's a few of the boys heading down tomorrow for the match, with the main group heading down on Saturday," Panthers cricketer Bradley Mitchell said.
Mr Mitchell said having the first Ashes test ever in Tasmania made for a special five days ahead.
"It's unreal," he said. "We play in the Tasmanian Cricket League and they called a bye this week so that as many people as possible could go."
Mr Mitchell has been an avid player of cricket since he was a young boy.
"We have a lot of players here from overseas at the moment, Sri Lankans, Indians and a couple of guys from Nepal," he said.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.examiner.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @examineronline
- Follow us on Instagram: @examineronline
- Follow us on Google News: The Examiner