Colombo: Make song not war. It is not the motto of most armies but then England’ s “Barmy Army” of cricket fans prefer music and drink to fighting.

Despite a political feud in Sri Lanka that has been threatening to curb tourist arrivals, this intrepid army have taken the island by storm, cheering on their team through three one-dayers and three Test matches, the last of which opened in Colombo on Thursday.

“When you’ve got a name like Barmy Army that’s not what gets into your head,” the group’s leader Paul Burnham said, referring to the power struggle between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

“I don’t think it’s been a factor at all,” said the 39-year-old Burnham at a local charity match as he enjoyed a beer to ease the searing heat.

Most teams come with a legion of devoted fans but few boast an official organisation who arrange match tickets to dominate a section of the stands.

“It was the name given to the fans who kept singing when England lost. ‘Barmy’ because we kept jumping up and down when we were losing,” said Burnham, explaining the group’s birth during England’s tour of Australia in 1994-95.

In November, when the series began, British tourist arrivals rose 100 per cent over the previous month, helping to fuel a record high despite the political feud that threatens a peace process striving to end 20 years of war with Tamil Tiger rebels.

Most of the Army said they had not given a thought to the political situation and were simply happy to be cheering their side.