The Barmy Army spent the day appreciating the beer, batting and bikinis at the Adelaide Oval, possibly the most scenic ground in the world.

The impressive Cathedral at one end of the ground, and the city skyline at the other provide a fitting backdrop.

But the only sight that the England fans really wanted to see was that of Nasser Hussain winning the toss ... and batting.

And after the coin came down and the interviewer turned to Nasser to indicate he had won the toss, the pleading chant came;

"Have a bat, have a bat, have a bat."

This time, there were no such aberrations as in Brisbane when the captain chose to bowl in similar, batting friendly conditions. The logical choice was thankfully made and Marcus Trescoshick and Michael Vaughan strode out to the wicket.

Everyone could now sit back and enjoy watching England batting, which they certainly did, with Vaughan in particular dominating the Australian bowling, en route to a fantastic knock of 175.

Back off the field, the Barmy Army has found their home on the grassy bank underneath the scoreboard.

They were enjoying their time singing from what is now the only remaining 'hill' in the Australian test series.

The fans, from their vantage point, could not only appreciate the fluent strokeplay in the middle, they could also watch the many characters in the ground pass by.

A black 'Krusty the Clown' look-alike danced and slid his way past.

His crazy hair and bald head, in a colourful outfit with red and yellow striped socks, couldn't help but catch the eye.

Prince Harry, an England fan now living in Australia, arrived with his prison shirt and ball and chain wrapped around his ankle in honour of the hosts' history.

The biggest cheers however, came for the assortment of women when they were walking past.

The favourite of the travelling fans was a young brunette wearing a sparkling Union Jack bikini.

Some girls who feigned disgust as they walked by, were in fact seen to pass by several more times.

One girl even walked past eight times in about a quarter of an hour. Later, when asked about it in the pub, she weakly argued, "I had places to go, the toilet,getting a drink, er...".

Talking of the fairer sex, a number of the Barmy Army seem to have been developing a close acquaintance with the local women of Adelaide.

But whisper it quietly, their have been rumours circulating of a possible Barmy Army wedding, with a certain cricket captain and another certain blond-permed BA organiser.

"It could be huge," one wag was heard to say. "Thousands would come".

Who knows? Future generations of Barmy Army support could be being conceived as we speak.

Also spotted in the crowd was former Warwickshire captain Dermot Reeve, fresh from starring as a ringer for the Barmy Army in a charity cricket match the day before the game.

He seemed to have a desire to inflict his West Country roots on the Army, with a self-penned song about Marcus Trescoshick.

It goes to the tune of "I've got a brand new combine Harvester", but it'll take a bit of work before this one becomes a terrace favourite.

It was all a bit of a shame when Vaughan was out in the last over of the day. It took a bit of shine off what had been a wonderful day for the England team.

Nevertheless, if you had offered anyone travelling from the UK 295-4 at the start of play, the vast majority would have bitten your hand off.

Then again, most would have simply accepted Nasser winning the toss ... and batting of course.

© Barmy Army