Birmingham set for first competitive match between England, Pakistan fans

Barmy Army will compete for the Edgbaston Fans Trophy against newly-formed NACC in a T20 matchon July 13

A cricket match between England’s fans and their British-Pakistani counterparts will take place in Birmingham next month prior to Pakistan’s first Test against England at Lord’s.

The Barmy Army will compete for the Edgbaston Fans Trophy against the newly-formed National Asian Cricket Council (NACC) in a T20 match at Attock Cricket Club on July 13.

According to Edgbaston Stadium’s chief executive Neil Snowball, the match will give a greater profile to fans ahead of Pakistan’s tour of England and will also promote an atmosphere of unity among fans from both sides.



“Edgbaston has been working closely with both supporter groups for several years and, with excitement building towards the start of the Investec Series, we wanted to give a greater profile to fans,” he said.

“The sport is able to unite people from different cultures and beliefs from around the world. We’re thrilled to be the architects of this first competitive match between England and Pakistan fans, and hope that this is something we can repeat for future series,” he added.



The National Asian Cricket Council was created by Club Cricket Conference to ensure that British Asian cricket has effective representation within the recreational game.

“Cricket embraces and promotes all that is great about integrating different communities on and off the pitch,” Gulfraz Riaz, NACC lead spokesperson, said.

“We look forward to a well-spirited match, and I urge fans from all communities to come and support what promises to be a great day,” he added.



Paul Burnham, founder and managing director of the Barmy Army, said: “We are really excited about this game and expect it to be a fun-packed evening of cricket and fundraising. Hopefully, this will be the first of many such fixtures, and we can start welcoming many more British Asians to join the Barmy Army Supporters Club.”

This article originally appeared on ESPNCricinfo.