Englishman travelled through 21 countries to reach Australia, watches Ashes

Ed Miller, an English fan, travelled for three months and covered almost 35,000 kilometres to Australia to witness the Ashes without spending a minute in air to fulfil his dream and a cause for The Oddballs Foundation in a hope to raise some funds and spread awareness for the fight against testicular cancer.

Miller, who predicts a 3-2 victory for the Three Lions Down Under, travelled to Australia via Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Mongolia, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

In the process, Miller also fulfilled his dream of watching an Ashes Test in Australia. He attended the first day of the Brisbane Test at the Gabba, where England finished the day on 196/4 backed by half-centuries from James Vince and Mark Stoneman.

Talking about his audacious journey, he told the International Cricket Council (ICC) that his love for cricket and travelling was the reason behind undertaking this journey.

“It was really mixing my love of cricket and travel. I loved watching TV shows by people like Michael Palin and Charley Boorman and seeing their overland journeys, and always wanted to emulate them but in my own way. And knowing that I wanted to visit Australia for the Ashes series seemed to be a perfect way of mixing them,” said Miller.

“I had planned to take a year off work, and as a teacher that meant leaving my job in July, giving me four months before the Ashes. It was then that I decided to come up with the inventive way of getting to Australia. It started as a bit of a dream in my head, but soon gained momentum as I started planning stages of the route and it built up quite quickly from then,” he added, as reported by India Times.

The dream journey was by no means a smooth one for him as he had to go through a lot of hurdles in between and he reached a point where his trip was in jeopardy as during the last leg of his journey — Darwin to Brisbane, a 3500km road trip, he couldn’t find a budget car. However, Miller finally stumbled upon a girl, who helped him get a cheap car for his journey to the venue of the first Test.

“The last leg of the journey which was driving from Darwin to Brisbane – a five-day 3,500km road trip. All the car hire places were quoting me AUD $2000 which was way above my budget. Obviously, I wasn’t going to give up at that stage, but it would have been a shame having to spend all that money just to hire a car for five days. However, one girl in a rental place was really helpful and had empathy for my story, and managed to find me, at the last minute, a relocation car that I could drive for $10 a day!”

He finally arrived in Brisbane and backs Joe Root‘s men will earn a 3-2 victory for England and Jonny Bairstow will be adjudged the man-of-the-series. Miller also hopes his journey will raise awareness for a bigger cause.

“Undoubtedly it has been an experience of a lifetime, and it has been great to meet so many people from all walks of life. But I have done the trip for charity also so it has been great to raise some money for The Oddballs Foundation who raise awareness for testicular cancer. If you think the trip deserves a few coins then please do visit my donation page,” he said.

Talking about the journey back, he ruled out any such adventures. He said his challenge was to reach the Gabba. He will next hop on a flight for the second Test at Adelaide.