GreenBkk Tech | U.S. babysitter set for Ashes trip after Twitter mix up

U.S. babysitter set for Ashes trip after Twitter mix up

Credit: CNN (www.cnn.com)

Thousands of cricket fans contacted @theashes thinking it related to the actual Ashes cricket series.

(CNN) -- A 22-year-old American woman has become an unlikely cricketing celebrity in England and Australia because her Twitter name happens to be "@The Ashes."

Ashley Kerekes, a babysitter from Massachusetts, has been inundated with thousands of messages from cricket fans thinking her account relates to the Test series played between Australia and England known as The Ashes.

A bemused Kerekes responded by tweeting: "I AM NOT A FREAKING CRICKET MATCH!!!." In another post she asked: "What the hell is cricket?"

Far from deterring people, her outbursts have made her a celebrity on Twitter, with Australian carrier Qantas even offering to fly her to Australia to watch the famous cricket contest after a campaign by other users called "#gettheashestotheashes."

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The airline tweeted Monday: "Qantas wants to see @theashes in Australia. We'll fly her from New York to Oz for the Ashes!"

As for the origins of her Twitter name, Kerekes told brisbanetimes.com.au: "My boyfriend gave me the nickname years ago, maybe because of the cricket tournament. We don't remember. He's been calling me The Ashes forever."

Kerekes had fewer than 300 followers at the start of the first Test match at the Gabba cricket ground in Brisbane, Queensland on November 25. By Monday this had risen to almost 6,000.

"I was out Christmas shopping with my aunt and I got a Twitter [direct message] from a friend of mine telling me that some guy was trying to get information about me," she told brisbanetimes.com.au.

"I'd turned off notifications on my phone right after my first outburst so I had no idea. After that I went looking around and found that I had hundreds, maybe thousands, of messages about The Ashes."

Kerekes, who usually tweets about young babies in her care or her favorite movies, now seems to have embraced her new-found fame, selling t-shirts bearing the logo "I am not a freaking cricket match."

She has yet to confirm whether she'll take up the offer from Qantas.

England face the Australians in the second test in Adelaide on December 3. The first match at The Gabba was drawn.

Credit: CNN (www.cnn.com)