[3] Cooper became involved with the Barmy Army in 2004 after following England on a tour of the West Indies and accidentally leaving his trumpet in a taxi in Barbados.

[4] Cooper then played The Great Escape theme tune,[5] which led to some of the Barmy Army offering to pay his air fare if he would join them on England's tour of South Africa.

[11] However, in 2010, Cricket Australia gave Cooper special dispensation to be the only person allowed into the Gabba with a musical instrument.

[12] In 2009, he was banned from attending a Test match at Headingley along with Barmy Army leader Vic Flowers for potentially being a distraction to people watching matches according to the operators of Headingley.

[1] He was not permitted to enter Trent Bridge during the 2013 or 2015 Ashes series due to a stadium ban on musical instruments.