WITH two of cricket’s favourite personalities Phil Tufnell and Jonathan Agnew heading to Malvern, Observer reporter Aaron Wise interviewed legendary former Middlesex and England bowler ‘Tuffers’ about his upcoming visit to the town, his memories of New Road and life after the crease.
THE DUO’S major UK tour of ‘An Evening with Aggers and Tuffers’ will stop off at Malvern Theatres tomorrow (Thursday), where cricket enthusiasts – including myself – will be entertained with comical anecdotes about our beloved sport.
Since the Ashes series of 2013, ‘Evenings with Aggers’ has been delighting audiences all over the country and now, following in the footsteps of Geoffrey Boycott, Sunil Gavaskar and Graeme Swann, Tuffers teams up with his Test Match Special (TMS) colleague for a series of off-the-cuff banter.
And Tuffers, a team captain on BBC show A Question of Sport is relishing his return to the Malvern Hills.
“I’m looking forward to visiting Malvern, I’ve been to the town before quite a while back, but I can’t for the life of me remember why!” he told the Observer.
“The show consists of myself and Aggers chatting about all things cricket and we’ll throw it over to the audience to get involved too. It’ll be a right laugh,” he added.
When asked about if he had any anecdotes of Worcestershire County Cricket Club, Tufnell said: “I have many fond memories of New Road playing against our then rivals Worcestershire. Although saying that, looking back all I can think of is Graeme Hick hitting me for six over the pavilion.
“But I always enjoyed going down, it’s a great place to play.
“Looking at the club’s star man Moeen Ali, you can see he’s really starting to come into his own as a spinner, and Alastair Cook is starting to trust him as one too.
“He’s doing very well for England, who are also doing very well in South Africa at the moment. They’ve played some sensational stuff during the tour. We seem to have found our form again,” he added.
Moving on from life after cricket, Phil has had many crazy adventures starring in ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here’ – which he won – and most recently ‘The Jump’ on Channel 4.
The reality show is regarded as one of the most dangerous in the country with celebrities being put to the ultimate test taking on skiing challenges in the snowy settings of Austria.
Phil added: “With what has been reported in the media recently, I think I was lucky to get out alive as early as I did to be honest. It’s an extreme sport and when your in something with no brakes it’s pretty full on.
“I’m used to playing cricket near beaches in Barbados, not skiing on snow covered mountains in Austria.
“As for crazy adventures, my next one will be heading to Malvern!” he added.
Tufnell’s close colleague Jonathan Agnew played first class cricket for Leicestershire between 1979 and 1990 before becoming household and leading name to cricket lovers’ handsets.
TMS has been entertaining cricket lovers on BBC Radio since the 1950s and is well respected for the way it engages its listeners into the commentary.
The duo’s visit has not gone unnoticed with tickets for the show all sold out.
Nic Lloyd, chief executive of Malvern Theatres said: “We’re excited to host an evening with cricketing legends Jonathan Agnew and Phil Tufnell.
“We’re also pleased to offer the unique opportunity to upgrade tickets to include a meet and greet with Aggers and Tuffers before the show.
“This promises to be a fascinating, entertaining, no holds barred evening for cricket fans and non-lovers of the game alike.”
The event starts at 7.45pm.
