Cricket Australia rolls out welcome mat for Barmy Army trumpeter Billy Cooper Barmy Army trumpeter Billy Cooper after being barred from the Gabba in 2006. Pic Jodie Richter Source: News Limited NOT a ball has yet been bowled in anger for the Ashes but England are still getting ready to blow their trumpet. Cricket Australia and the country's Test venues have rolled out the red carpet for Barmy Army trumpeter Billy Cooper, despite England banning him from one of their own Ashes Tests. Not even the Poms could cop Cooper and his trumpet whenso they refused to let him in to Trent Bridge for the first Ashes Test in July due to a ban on spectators taking musical instruments into the ground. Billy the Trumpet has also had plenty of troubles in Australia, where he was thrown out of the Gabba and arrested in 2006 for playing the Neighbours theme tune on his trusty trumpet. Brisbane police did not find him much of a hoot. This time the classically- trained freelance trumpeter, who works with various London orchestras, will be welcomed like a long-lost mate as he has been given special dispensation to attend all five Ashes Tests. His trumpet will even get advance entry into the Gabba and other Test venues, with overzealous security to be relaxed to allow the trumpetinstrument to be stashed inside the ground on the day before play. Cooper, who is often referred to by players as England's 12th man, will form the centrepiece of English fans' efforts to unsettle Australian players. over the next couple of months. Anyone who has ever hankered to sing strange rhyming songs, don some Union Jack garments or tie a hanky to their head and/or turn pink can still buy tickets available in the Gabba seating area where the Barmy Army will be situated for the first three days. There are a few seats left for day one and then a few hundred more on days two and three. Jokes aside, Cooper's importance to England as he blows his trumpet while other Barmy Army members taunt Australian players with their songs, should not be understated. England players even vented their fury on Twitter when Cooper was banned from the Trent Bridge Test earlier this year. "Absolute DISGRACE that Trent Bridge have stopped our very vocal '12th man'," Kevin Pietersen tweeted. And Stuart Broad tweeted: "There's a reason why he's not banned from the majority of Test grounds. He lifts the team and the crowd.