Left field Bowler’s life and times

48 Left-arm fast-medium

1987–1990 Western Australia

1988 Hampshire 1990–1999 Leicestershire 2000–2005 Hampshire

Debut v India at Edgbaston, 1996 Last Test v Australia at Headingley, 2001 Best figures 5 for 105 v Australia, the Gabba 1998

Debut v Pakistan at Old Trafford, 1996

Last ODI v Australia at the Oval, 2001

Debut 1987-88

Last game Hampshire v Glamorgan, 2004 Five-wicket hauls 31

Debut 1988-89

Last game Hampshire v Gloucestershire, 2005 Five-wicket hauls 3

especially in Perth. “There was only one person who got personal to me on the whole tour and that was here. I was at fine leg at the Lillee-marsh End, and this bloke says, ‘Mullally, your mother is a slut and your sister’s a whore.’ At the end of the over, I told Stewie [Alec Stewart, the England captain] and he moved me to fine leg the other end. This guy follows me and says the same.

“I wanted to jump over the fence and nut him. Stewie moves me to the other end. This guy does it again. He says, ‘Your sister is still a slut and your mother is still a whore.’ I point to another guy in the crowd who is twice the size of me and say, ‘Is that guy’s mother a whore and sister a slut?’ He says, ‘I don’t know him.’ I say, ‘That’s my brother.’ He then stands up and says, ‘If you don’t disappear, I am going to play basketball with your head.’ The guy disappeared.

“That was playing at the Waca. You have to banter with the Aussie crowd. At the MCG, Bay 13, there were 30,000 chanting, ‘Mullally is a w-----, Mullally is a traitor.’ They then start throwing stuff at me. I go to Warnie, ‘Do something, you are the king of Melbourne.’ He grabs [Ricky] Ponting’s helmet, walks down to Bay 13 and tells them to calm down. He walks past me and says, ‘That should do it, Al’ and walks off. It worked.”

What about playing at the Waca? “In Perth, Australians play square of the wicket and straight,” he says. “English guys play to the covers, but because of the bounce you will nick off if you do that. The great thing about being a bowler here when the [Fremantle] Doctor comes in, is it will swing. I hope he doesn’t, but I think [Mitchell] Starc will have a field day.”

Mullally describes James Anderson as a great bowler but thinks Darren Gough, his old team-mate, was just as good.

“He did the same things but quicker,” he explains. “The difference was he did not have central contracts. He had to play county cricket. Now they play county cricket when they can be a----. Different world.”