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Tufnell ends career as the ultimate maverick

Middlesex and former England left-arm spinner retires from game in order to raise profile as celebrity and take up media opportunities

Angus Fraser
Friday 11 April 2003 00:00 BST
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Philip Tufnell, the Middlesex and England spinner, brought an end to one of the most controversial yet colourful cricket careers in recent times yesterday when he announced his retirement from the first-class game. After 18 seasons with Middlesex, and after taking over 1,000 first-class wickets, the 36-year-old has decided that now is the time to call it a day so that he can focus fully on developing his media commitments and interests outside the game.

In a press release, Tufnell, who played in 42 Test matches for England, gave the lack of security offered by Middlesex as the main reason for his decision to retire. This to a large extent is true, with the club refusing to extend his contract beyond the end of the 2003 season, but the timing of this announcement also coincides with the charismatic left-arm spinner being invited to take part in the second edition of the reality television game show I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!

The filming of this is due to start in Australia at the end of this month and Tufnell, who sees the show and the raised profile such an appearance will give him as the ideal launching pad to move on from from being a cricketer to a career in the media – and sort out the precarious period which follows the end of a sportsman's career – asked Middlesex if they would allow him time off to appear in it. This request was declined by the club because Tufnell would miss almost a quarter of the season if he reached the later stages of the show, which forced the spinner to make a decision.

Tufnell will now spend the end of April and the early part of May looking for wood Down Under – if the previous winner, Tony Blackburn, is anything to go by – with the likes of Marie Helvin, Daniella Westbrook, Frank Bruno and the royal "love rat" James Hewitt, should they decide to accept similar invitations, rather than searching for wickets in St John's Wood.

Speaking about Tufnell's decision, the Middlesex coach, John Emburey, said: "He will be missed by Middlesex because as an experienced cricketer he still had a role to play in our first season in the First Division. He played a major role on the park in the club's success during the the Eighties and early Nineties and we wish him well for the future."

It is almost apt that Tufnell's career should end in such a way because his time in cricket, and indeed his life, has never been far away from the headlines since he walked through the gates at Lord's as a scruffy 18-year-old with long hair and a fag hanging out of the corner of his mouth. As a youth he used to travel around the country playing Second XI cricket in one of those big old Volvos, with two stereo speakers on the back window ledge, blasting out music. He was never far away from trouble and, even before his behaviour started hitting the headlines following his England debut in 1990, Middlesex were aware they had something of a handful on their staff.

However, Tufnell could bowl. At his best he was, for large parts of the 1990s, one of the leading finger spinners in the world. In the right conditions he was a match-winner, as several performances for England at The Oval highlighted, and even on unresponsive surfaces he had the guile and skill to give his captain the control he required.

He was once asked whether he was adopting England's new training regime, to which his reply was: "Five pints of lager, 20 Benson & Hedges and a curry is my diet. That's the one I've been on and I won't be changing it." Such an attitude inevitably wore thin with the selectors and led to him spending more time away from the international arena.

His behaviour off the field has given him the notoriety that has led to his celebrity status. Originally, when he joined Middlesex, he was called "The Cat" because he slept all day and went out all night. But after three failed relationships – two of which ended in divorce – and numerous fines and scrapes with authority he is aware that he has used up most of his lives and is these days more often found curled up in front of a fire rather than out on the prowl.

For 12 years I had the pleasure of changing next to Tufnell in the home dressing-room at Lord's. It was an experience I will never forget and I am a richer person – unfortunately not moneywise – for it. Whether he was on a high or in the depths of depression over something happening off the field or the fact he could not get a wicket on it, there was never a dull moment. On his day he was and still is one of the most amusing men you could meet as he talks through incidents he has been involved in. There can be little doubt Tufnell's new career will give him plenty more tales to tell and it is unlikely we will have heard the last of him.

Phil Tufnell: The life and times

Born: 29 April 1966, Hadley Wood, Hertfordshire.

1984: MCC Young Cricketer of Year.

1986: County debut for Middlesex.

1988: Dropped by Middlesex after failing to perform 12th-man duties.

1990-91: Test debut for England v Australia.

1992-93: Establishes slowest Test batting record, taking 81 minutes for 2 not out v India in Bombay. Fined £500 for kicking cap and swearing at umpire against Rest of India XI.

1993: Records best first-class figures of 8 for 29 against Glamorgan at Cardiff.

1994-95: Fined £1,100 for assaulting his girlfriend. Denies her allegations that he took cocaine. Checks into psychiatric wing of a Perth hospital after trashing his hotel room during Ashes tour. Fined £1,000 at the end of the tour.

1996: Scores a career-best 67 not out against Worcestershire at Lord's.

1996-97: Surprise selection for England's tour of Zimbabwe and New Zealand. Cleared by England management of claims by a restaurant manageress that he smoked cannabis on the premises.

1997: 23 August: claims 11 wickets as England win the final Ashes Test at The Oval. 26 September: receives a suspended ban after failing to provide a specimen for a drug test after last match of the season.

1997-98: Selected for England's tour of the West Indies.

1999-2000: Returns to England side on tour of South Africa.

2001: Picked for final Test against Australia at The Oval. 1 for 174 in 39 overs in his last Test.

2002: Claims 45 wickets as Middlesex win promotion to First Division of the County Championship.

2003: 10 April: announces retirement, with a bowling average in Test matches of 37.68, in ODIs of 36.78 and first-class matches of 29.35.

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