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Full name Philip Clive Roderick Tufnell
Born April 29, 1966, Barnet, Hertfordshire
Current age 42 years 161 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
Batting and fielding averages
Mat
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
BF
SR
100
50
4s
6s
Ct
St
Tests
42
59
29
153
22*
5.10
690
22.17
0
0
13
0
12
0
ODIs
20
10
9
15
5*
15.00
31
48.38
0
0
0
0
4
0
First-class
316
349
136
2066
67*
9.69
0
1
106
0
List A
93
36
22
125
18
8.92
0
0
17
0
Bowling averages
Mat
Inns
Balls
Runs
Wkts
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
4w
5w
10
Tests
42
70
11288
4560
121
7/47
11/93
37.68
2.42
93.2
6
5
2
ODIs
20
20
1020
699
19
4/22
4/22
36.78
4.11
53.6
1
0
0
First-class
316
76934
31026
1057
8/29
29.35
2.41
72.7
53
6
List A
93
4663
3327
103
5/28
5/28
32.30
4.28
45.2
4
1
0
Career statistics
Test debut
Australia v England at Melbourne, Dec 26-30, 1990 scorecard
Last Test
England v Australia at The Oval, Aug 23-27, 2001 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut
England v New Zealand at Perth, Dec 7, 1990 scorecard
Last ODI
New Zealand v England at Christchurch, Feb 20, 1997 scorecard
ODI statistics
First-class span
1986 - 2002
List A span
1988 - 2001
Profile
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.
Lawrence Booth