Biography

Full name Philip Clive Roderick Tufnell

Born April 29, 1966, Barnet, Hertfordshire

Current age 43 years 301 days

Major teams England, Middlesex

Nickname The Cat

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Slow left-arm orthodox

Other Author

Height 6 ft 0 in

Education Highgate School; Southgate School

The Bad Boy of English cricket in the 1990s, but the best spinner – left-arm or otherwise – as well. With a kick of the back leg, a skip and a jump, he had an approach to the wicket that is all his own, but Tufnell had great control of flight – he talked of his “ball on a string” – and tended to beat batsmen in the air rather than off the pitch. And the arm ball was hard to spot. His batting was more straightforward, and consisted of the shuffle to square leg when facing the fast bowlers or the optimistic waft outside off stump. Known as The Cat because of his love of dressing-room naps, he purred into action in his fifth Test against West Indies at The Oval in 1991, and produced another matchwinning performance in Christchurch that winter. But a troubled private life, a strained relationship with the establishment, and some uninspired captaincy meant he has been in and out of the team since then. Only occasionally has he returned to his mischievous, attacking best, although his Middlesex career, kickstarted by an irresistible partnership with John Emburey, never stalled. In April 2003, however, he abruptly retired from first-class cricket, to become the unlikely star of a reality TV show. Rarely seen without a beer and a fag, Tufnell has always been something of a folk hero, and he milked that to the full to carve out a successful career on TV and radio.

Charismatic and controversial, Phil Tufnell is the former England cricket bowler with a talent for spinning the ball on the field and getting in trouble off it.

Tufnell went to Highgate School where a teacher encouraged his cricketing prowess and he became captain of the Junior School’s First XI despite the fact he was not yet in the top year. While he excelled in cricket, academia was not on his list of achievements. He lost his mother to leukemia when he was a teenager.

Tipped as the most talented English spinner of his generation, Tufnell mastered the art of bowling the slow left-arm spin at Southgate club in north London.

Nicknamed The Cat for his ability to sleep any time, any where, Tufnell made his debut for Middlesex in 1986. It was here that he developed a reputation for being a cricketer with big talent but little dedication for the discipline of the game. He was occasionally in trouble for missing practice or minor matches and once missed a game when shopping for a fridge instead.

Tufnell’s larrikin tendencies meant he was later disciplined for numerous offences to do with birds, booze, drugs and generally offensive behavior. In 1994, after a tour of the West Indies, he went on a drinking binge so his partner, Jane McEvoy, walked out on him with their child. He slapped his partner across the face and McEvoy’s father got revenge by slapping Tufnell in the face with a brick. Tufnell was fined £800 for assault and Michael McEvoy was fined £2,500 for malicious wounding. Three years later, on a tour of New Zealand in 1997 reports emerged that he left a toilet cubicle trailing the scent of marijuana but he was exonerated.

Despite brilliant bowling figures, once getting 11 wickets for 93 runs, he was an abysmal batter whose career average did not reach double figures. He played 42 Tests and 20 One Day Internationals for England between 1990 and 2001, and 316 first-class matches, mainly for Middlesex.

He had retired from professional cricket 2003 in order to participate in the reality television show ‘I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!’ from which he emerged as King of the Jungle. He was a team captain on the sports quiz show ‘They Think It’s All Over’, did analytical punditry on Sky Sports and Channel 4, and has made appearances on current affairs programmes, chat shows and quiz shows. He has co-authored a humorous book called ‘Phil Tufnell’s’ A To Z of Cricket’ and wrote his autobiography, ‘What Now?’

He has two children, Poppy and Ellie