Phil Tufnell was starstruck when Russell Crowe called him ‘Tuffers!’
The ex-cricketer, 55, on a Test Match Special tour, writing a book during lockdown and launching his own wine label.
What can cricket fans expect from your Test Match Special Live tour?
Lots of fun. We’re going up and down the country with Aggers [Jonathan Agnew] and the team and lots of anecdotes. We’ll take people inside the commentary box and show them some never-before-seen footage.
We’ve got some well-known people and cricketers popping in to tell their experiences. And I’m sure we’re going to be talking about the Ashes disaster.
It’s the first time TMS has gone on tour…
TMS has been going a long time and has been a huge part of my life. I remember listening to it with my dad, stuck in a traffic jam going down to Brighton on a summer’s day.
It’s probably my first experience of cricket, actually, listening to the iconic voices of Johnners [Brian Johnston] and John Arlott wafting over the airwaves. So I feel very privileged to be a part of such an iconic radio show.
Do you channel Geoffrey Boycott or base your commentary style on anyone?
That’s the first time anyone has asked me if I have a commentary style! I just turn up and get very excited about the game. It’s obviously a passion of mine, having played for 20 years professionally at the highest level.
You just go with the buzz and if it’s raining, you have a little chat about something else. I think your own style comes out.
Who’s your favourite person to interview?
I usually do the colour — I’m not the ball-by-ball commentator, I’m the analyst. But when Aggers was interviewing Russell Crowe, that was quite exciting. Usually, I leave it to Aggers and have a bit of lunch but on this occasion I skipped lunch. Russell was standing there and said, ‘Hello, Tuffers!’ I thought, ‘He’s Gladiator and he’s just gone, “Hello, Tuffers!”’
Do current sportspeople ask for your advice on getting into the media?
They do. You’ve got to have a little bit of good fortune to be at the right place at the right time. It also comes down to the passion for the game.
Did doing shows such as I’m A Celebrity and Strictly help you?
A little bit. I went into the jungle all those years ago and was very fortunate to win it. Radio is completely different to being in front of the camera and is a lovely way to express yourself without the pressures of a TV camera on you. You don’t have to shave every morning or comb your hair quite so much.
You wrote your book, How Not To Be A Cricketer, during lockdown…
It gave me something to do. I did that with a co-writer on Zoom and I penned a few things down on days when everything was shut down. That was quite cathartic and it also got me out of painting the shed.
I’ve done a few books now and find them great fun to do. It’s amazing what you forget so to trawl back through scrapbooks, all these things pop back into your memory and you start chuckling to yourself.
What are you most proud of?
That first time I pulled on the England jersey. It doesn’t get much better than that, really.
Are cricketers under a lot more pressure now?
Yes, I think so. It’s very tough to get the best out yourself when everything’s in your favour, never mind when you’re having to be locked in and go through quarantines. So to perform the way they have in some of the games has been incredible.
When I was playing, it was 16 fellows going off with a coach and a physio. Now they’ve got more backroom staff than players! Psychologists, analysts, strength and conditioning, dieticians… They have everything to make them the best cricketer they can be, when in our day we’d go down the bar and have a word with the senior players.
Will England bounce back for the next Ashes?
Australia have a great bowling unit, which always helps because in order to win Test matches you’ve got to take 20 wickets. We seem to be lacking in the batting department but we’ve got a fabulous white-ball team. We need to address the Test matches.
What else have you got going on this year?
I’ve launched a range of wine called Tuffers’ Tipple. A friend of mine said, ‘Let’s get some wines together!’ I thought that was a great idea. It was fun tasting and blending and creating wines that suit my lifestyle and taste.
They’re like my children, the Sauvignons, Bacchuses and Shirazes. I’m very proud of what we’ve come up with — they taste bloody good!
The Test Match Special Live tour runs from April to May. Tickets at Fane.
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