{"id":11785,"date":"2022-03-06T10:00:11","date_gmt":"2022-03-06T09:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1596141"},"modified":"2022-03-06T10:26:08","modified_gmt":"2022-03-06T09:26:08","slug":"phil-tufnell-on-test-match-special-and-the-evolution-of-cricket","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/phil-tufnell-on-test-match-special-and-the-evolution-of-cricket\/","title":{"rendered":"Phil Tufnell on Test Match Special and the evolution of cricket"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Michael Potts\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 06 March 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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\u201cYou don\u2019t even know you\u2019re on air sometimes. You forget that you\u2019re on the radio. It\u2019s like two mates down the pub. We\u2019ve got a slice of cake\u2026 and we\u2019re having a cup of tea\u2026 oh, that\u2019s a fantastic shot\u2026 oh, England are 125 for 6.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phil Tufnell has seen it all, and more. It\u2019s been 32 years since he first took to the field for his England Test debut and his love for the game is undiminished.<\/p>\n

Tufnell is a regular on a beloved BBC institution, Test Match Special, and spoke exclusively to RadioTimes.com<\/a> as he gears up to take a brand new Test Match Special Live show across the country alongside cult hero commentator Jonathan Agnew.<\/p>\n

We caught up with Tufnell as he regaled us with his earliest memories of the show, what makes it so special and how cricket itself has evolved throughout his experiences \u2013 from \u201c20-hour train rides to Calcutta\u201d to the TMS box.<\/p>\n

\u201cTest Match Special is probably one of the first things I can remember actually,\u201d he explained. He\u2019s a warm, jovial character, as you\u2019d expect, a notable glint is present in his eye at all times.<\/p>

\u201cI remember sitting in a car going down to Brighton with my mum and dad, stuck in a traffic jam on the A23, sun shining, going: \u201cAre we there yet?\u201d with these lovely wafts of Arlott and Johnners: \u201cEngland have won the Ashes!\u201d and everything. That\u2019s one of my first memories. Now to be part of that for almost 20 years, it\u2019s absolutely wonderful. Very, very lucky boy.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps I was misunderstood as a cricketer \u2013 a little bit of a rebel \u2013 but I mean, at the end of the day, it\u2019s bloody war out there. You\u2019ve got to fight, you\u2019re in a bloody fight, I\u2019ll tell you, to survive. Otherwise there\u2019s some great big bloke bowling 90 miles an hour at your head or some great big bloke trying to smash you and destroy you with the bat. It\u2019s a completely different atmosphere, being on the field to being in the box.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tufnell continues: \u201cIt\u2019s war on the pitch but when you\u2019re in the media box it\u2019s all forgotten\u2026 most of the time. I think that that is a great aspect. We have wonderful emails, we had some amazing emails over the pandemic which were heartbreaking as well. People saying their dad or mum\u2019s in hospital or they\u2019re going through this or that, and they\u2019ve got TMS on and it\u2019s bringing a smile to their face. \u2018I\u2019m listening in Scotland, they\u2019re in London, we feel like we\u2019re together whenever we listen\u2019. It\u2019s amazing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really something special how people were contacting us and just saying: \u201cyou\u2019ve made me smile again\u201d, \u201cyou\u2019ve brought my heart rate down a bit\u201d because things were getting a little bit funky.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 55-year-old former bowler claimed 121 wickets in 42 outings for his country but there is still one thing he might have changed during his career, if he\u2019d had his own way.<\/p>\n

\""Phil\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Phil Tufnell (GETTY)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\u201cOne big regret for me is that I never scored a Test match 100 \u2013 78 away was my nearest!\u201d He laughs. \u201cIt was never particularly on the cards but yeah I would have loved a couple of more occasions to get my own back and smash a few around in a big arena and nick myself a Test match 50 or something.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving done all the bloody bowling, I would have loved just an hour and a half in the sun at Lord\u2019s. It\u2019s funny, all the batsmen want to take a wicket and all the bowlers want to get some runs.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds\u201d \u201cI can remember the first time I represented my country. The mixed emotions of it all are incredible really. You get nervous, you\u2019re a little bit worried, you\u2019re excited, you want to go out there, you\u2019re playing for yourself, you\u2019re playing for your mum and dad and you\u2019re playing for your country and the fans. When you lose, you feel you have let everyone down. There are those those feelings and those dark times that you have to cope with.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking back on it now, which I\u2019m very privileged to do now through the likes of TMS, it was a wonderful, wonderful time. You see your mates in the media box and chat and laugh and reminisce, you have the memories of going around the world, games you\u2019ve played, catches you\u2019ve dropped. All this kind of stuff, I wouldn\u2019t have changed it for the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cricket has evolved since those early days. The radical rise to prominence of limited overs formats \u2013 ODIs, T20s and most recently, The Hundred \u2013 has dramatically changed the face of the game.<\/p>\n

However, Tufnell believes the key differences from his playing days to now are seen most visibly behind the scenes with ever-expanding infrastructure designed to efficiently extract every ounce of ability from players, while keeping them mentally healthy.<\/p>\n

He says: \u201cIn regards to Test match cricket, [the biggest change has been] the support and the backroom staff. My first tour, we just sort of went out with 15 or 16 blokes, a coach and a physio. We all just sort of turned up, got on the plane and off we went for four months. Nowadays, they have all the tools at their disposal to make them into better players. That comes from analysts, strength and conditioning, diet, psychology, all these guys. There are one-to-one batting coaches, one-to-one bowling coaches, everything is there for them to make themselves better all-round cricketers and better all-round people, I suppose.<\/p>\n

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