‘STRICTLY WAS AN ABSOLUTE EYE OPENER’
AS CRICKET GETS A BRAND NEW SPIN WITH THE HUNDRED, PLAYER-TURNEDBBC PRESENTER PHIL TUFNELL TALKS MEETING HIS HEROES AND WHY DANCING ON STRICTLY WAS TOUGHER THAN BOWLING FOR ENGLAND
Hi Phil. So the BBC is bringing us this fast-paced new cricket format, The Hundred. Will tradition-loving fans be choking on their tea and cake?
I think it’s going to be great. People are saying “What about the stalwarts, the hardened purists?” But hopefully there’s an audience out there who perhaps haven’t thought about cricket before. So it’s completely about opening the doors and saying, “Come on and have a look, see what it’s all about.” It should be a fantastic format and very entertaining.
Hopefully you’ll be catching everyone in a sporty mood after the Euros…
With what’s been going on, we’ve all been slightly starved of sports action in terms of crowds attending. So hopefully people will come along and watch some cricket live. The Euros made lots of people happy and it was just the tonic the country needed after the year we’ve had. It gave us all a smile and a boost.
Did you ever imagine as a boy that you would end up sharing a commentary box with the likes of Test Match Special legend Jonathan Agnew?
Aggers is our leader. I thoroughly enjoy doing the radio, it’s just a joy. I remember when I first got my love of the game, sitting in the back of my dad’s car, stuck in a traffic jam, listening to those beautiful voices wafting over in the sunshine. The sound of leather on willow and all that. It’s a real honour to be part of it and we have a bit of a laugh along the way.
And you got to play with some heroes too, didn’t you?
I was very lucky to have seen Ian Botham play – Botham’s Ashes, against Australia, I think that was in 1981. Then I had the privilege of playing with him in his last five or six Test matches. So that was a bit of a moment for me! Sitting on the sofa in my short trousers watching him and then about 10 or 15 years later, actually walking into the same dressing room. That was pretty amazing.
As well as commentating on matches, you present a podcast with fellow former Strictly contestant Michael Vaughan…
Yeah, and we do talk about Strictly occasionally. I went out in week 9. What do you mean you can’t remember my Paso Doble? [Laughs] Darren Gough won it, so did Mark Ramprakash. Maybe we weren’t quite up to their standard but we both had a good go at it, as did Graeme Swann. But God it was absolutely terrifying!
Which was more scary, playing cricket for England or going on
Strictly?
Give me Curtly Ambrose or Courtney Walsh facing me on the pitch any day! Strictly was an absolute eye opener. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I managed to get to Blackpool but then I think my time had come.
Would you give another reality show a go?
Well, I haven’t done Dancing On Ice. I’m absolutely rubbish at ice-skating but who knows…
How do you like to relax?
I enjoy my painting – I do a little bit of modern art. I like splashing it all about, which is very therapeutic. And I enjoy my wine.
Do you keep up with the TV shows you’ve been on, like I’m A Celebrity and Strictly?
Oh yes, I’m a big fan. I’m a bit of a TV watcher, I like to sit down with a glass of wine. I like sport, comedy shows and cooking programmes. But my wife has a go at me because I’ll watch, then go and make beans on toast. And she says, “Well, you haven’t learnt anything!”
I did Celebrity Masterchef too. And I got knocked out by Craig Revel Horwood’s spag bol. Spag bol? My chicken breast on celeriac mash was to die for!
The hundred will be on bbc Two, radio and online from wednesday 21 July