Phil Tufnell
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Philip ("Phil") Clive Roderick Tufnell (born April 29, 1966 in Barnet, Hertfordshire) is a former English cricketer and television personality.
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Early life
Tufnell went to Highgate School where his cricketing prowess was recognised and he was appointed caption of the Junior School's First XI despite the fact he was not yet in the top year. However in the Senior School he could be violent and when he was about 13 was suspended for an indefinite period for hitting a boy who refused to do as he asked. He never returned.
Cricket career
As a slow left-arm orthodox spin bowler he played 42 Tests and 20 One-day Internationals for England between 1990 and 2001, and 316 first-class matches, mainly for Middlesex.
Tufnell was occasionally inspired with the ball, taking 11-93 against Australia at the Oval in 1997, but he took his 121 Test wickets with a bowling average of 37.68 across his whole Test career. It is said that Tufnell opened both the bowling and batting for his club side, however, it is assumed that he developed his bowling far more, since his batting at international level was truly atrocious. His fielding was also renowned for being ordinary. Tufnell was accused of smoking cannabis while on tour with England, and has had a stormy personal life, being twice divorced, and once fined for assaulting a girlfriend. He was nicknamed "The Cat" due to his propensity to be found sleeping in the dressing room.
During his illustrious career spanning over a decade with Middlesex, Tufnell took more than 1,000 first class wickets in the English game a feat only achieved in the modern era by Phillip DeFreitas.
His autoobiography "What now?" was published in 1999.
Television career
Tufnell retired from professional cricket before the 2003 season in order to participate in the "reality television" show I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! and is now a team captain on the sports quiz show They Think It's All Over.
In 2006, at the Allan Border Medal ceremony, Tufnell made an appearance and gave a long, humorous speech aimed at poking fun at the Aussies after their recent loss in the 2005 Ashes series. Unfortunately, these digs were taken a little too seriously by Ricky Ponting, who failed to see the fun in Tufnell's speech.