Cricket 'Super Fans' armor up: Go beige or go home

Paul Ford of the Beige Brigade preparing for his trip to Melbourne for the World Cup Final. Photo / Supplied, Herald on Sunday

Cricket Super fans, the 'Beige Brigade' are today making emergency deliveries of Black Cap gear to under-dressed Kiwi supporters in Melbourne, ahead of the Cricket World Cup final.

Co-founder Paul Ford packed a suitcase full of shirts, hats and stubbies for supporters who had headed across the Tasman without first picking up their orders.

Beige Brigade members would drop off the gear to fans around the Aussie city and also dish it out from their hotel base.

"We haven't seen a demand like it for 16 years, when the Black Caps wore beige against Australia at Eden Park [in 2005]," Ford said. "We are not exactly Hallensteins but we have been selling heaps of stuff.

"At Auckland Airport I felt like a shirt trafficker."

Ford said some fans had managed to organise flights and tickets to Melbourne after Tuesday's semifinal win against South Africa but 'didn't have time' to pick up their Beige Brigade orders.

"We were happy to oblige in Melbourne and there will be a lot of appallingly dressed people at the MCG on Sunday."

Ford reckoned the Black Caps can pull off a shock result because there will be less pressure on the team than their Tasman rivals.

"There is a real spirit and humility about the players which people have really taken to. They are doing things the Kiwi way."