ABC Sport look at the invasion that was planned for the Xmas and New Year period in Australia.....

England may have lost the Ashes but its Barmy Army cheer squad is still in good humour as it prepares to host its biggest ever Christmas and New Year's parties Down Under.

Thousands of English cricket fans are expected to join a Christmas Day barbecue on the banks of Melbourne's Yarra River ahead of the Boxing Day Test.

A few days later some 4,000 are expected at a party in Sydney on New Year's Eve, organisers say.

The fans are undaunted by Australia's unassailable 3-0 lead in the much-hyped Test series and the possibility of a humiliating 5-0 whitewash.

"It won't stop anyone enjoying themselves, they are going to Australia for a party," Barmy Army co-founder David Peacock said in Melbourne.

"We lost the Ashes at Perth and it was the Barmy Army who were singing for over an hour until the boys came out."

Since its inception in Brisbane 14 years ago, the Barmy Army has grown from 30 backpackers to a business employing two full-time staff and catering for thousands of English sports fans.

Australian fans initially pelted the army with missiles, such as plastic cups and meat pies, but it has grown to become an integral part of Ashes cricket Down Under.

Mr Peacock says eight years ago, Christmas Day for the Barmy Army would have been a small group of supporters sitting on a beach holding a Union Jack.

In 2006, things are a lot grander.

"For Christmas Day we've organised a barbecue for about 2,500 people. That's going to be on the banks of the Yarra," Barmy Army official Nicky Bowes said.

"This is the first time we've really gone to that kind of level. Four years ago there were parties arranged but they were impromptu."

The Sydney New Year's Eve event, to be held at the beach-side suburb of Coogee, will be a charity fundraiser and is expected to attract some 4,000 people.

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