Phil Tufnell: Up in Smoke

Philip Clive Roderick Tufnell’s early life was marked more by mischief than responsibility. A fiery temper and a dislike of academics contributed towards two expulsions – one from which, was a public school. Like many top sportsmen, Tufnell had little time for matters outside his passion: “Double football followed by double cricket and I would have been good as gold”, or so he said.

A cheeky chappy image fostered since early days came to stereotype Tufnell the cricketer. In and out of the ever changing England side, The Cat’s antics quickly established him as a dressing room character; Tufnell’s chirpy aura, crap batting and witless fielding did the same in the eyes of the British public. An ultimately modest career was dotted with genuinely world class performances like the 11/93 against the Aussies at the Oval in the ’97 Ashes. Whilst tabloid stories of drug abuse kept doing the rounds. Pictures were clicked of him puffing away to la la land in a restroom in Christchurch.

If that wasn’t colorful enough then came along the allegations of him reprising his act in psychiatric wards on his first tour Down Under. A brick in the face from his father-in-law and three arrests for more such larking around and boisterous behavior was just a day in the life for Tuffers. He was also when he found time, a player of genuine talent who would take over 1000 first class wickets for Middlesex. With a deftly disguised arm ball he formed a partnership with John Emburey bowling in tandem. Unashamedly lured by the cash cow of fame, Tufnell’s career has been no less extraordinary outside of cricket. So after bidding goodbye to first class cricket in 2003, he came to wider public notoriety as the winner of “I’m A Celebrity….” With an extended stint on “They think it’s All Over”.

He played the last of his 20 ODIs against New Zealand with a devastating spell of 4/22 with wickets of Nathan Astle, Adam Parore, Stephen Fleming and Chris Cairns. This was followed by his smoking pot in the loo incident. And as Cheech and Chong would have said, that his career quite literally went “up in smoke”. Tuffer however hasn’t severed all ties with cricket. In the winter of 2007 he came up with “Tuffer’s Tours” which promised to offer cricket tourists a “unique Ashes experience”.

His autobiography “What Now?” is a laugh riot and doubtlessly appeal to day trippers’ keen to carouse their way through its pages. Wish he did his signature kick of the back leg, a skip and a jump to add to his tally of 121 test wickets. Rather than the odd stop offs at localized loony bins.