After numerous legendary encounters with Shane Warne, former England cricket star Phil Tufnell shared his rather banal final exchange with the legendary Australian spinner. As a world-class spinner and charismatic figure who regularly grabbed headlines, Tufnell, 59, could be branded as England’s equivalent to Warne.
While he may have lacked Warne’s earring and bleach blonde hair that granted the Aussie his movie-star appearance, Tufnell too was adept at perplexing batsmen by spinning the ball on demand. The English off-spinner’s 11-wicket haul at the 1997 Ashes – outperforming Warne’s four – that propelled England to a tantalising 19-run win over Australia in the sixth test is one of his performances that will live long in the memory. The two spinners formed a close bond after their retirement and often spoke to each other in the media section. Warne’s sudden passing from a heart attack at the age of 52 on March 4, 2022, left Tufnell, like millions around the globe, deeply affected.
Tufnell holds on to the memory of their final words shared, where he asked Warne if he had enough cigarettes, before saying goodbye. Speaking at the launch of The Overlap and Betfair’s Stick to Cricket show, Tufnell told the Mirror: “I do a little bit actually (when asked if he can recall his final conversation with Warne).
“I think we were at a cricket match. We have a breakout group there, so we’re BBC and he was at Sky. As usual, we all meet up for a fag, we both used to smoke. I tell you what, it was one of those where we were just chatting.
“It was virtually, ‘Oh, well, see you later. See you next year. Cheers mate. You got a fag, yeah? Alright! Cheers mate. Ta, bye.’ Then, shortly afterwards (when news of the death was confirmed), it was like, ‘F***, what?’ That was the shock. We just couldn’t believe it.”
Warne’s passing left an indelible void in cricket, with family and friends reeling from the loss. Tufnell recounts the moment of disbelief upon hearing the tragic news whilst driving. He added: “I was driving along in my car and I thought they’d got it wrong.
“I thought they’d got it wrong because I think Rod Marsh, the legendary Australian wicket keeper, had passed away two or three days beforehand.
“I thought they had got that (Warne’s death) wrong on the radio. Then I turned to another channel and they said it again. I stopped the car. Stopped the car. I had been working with him not so long ago in the media centre at a cricket match, just chatting to him. I just couldn’t believe it.”
Warne is universally recognised as the finest leg spinner in history, concluding his illustrious career with 708 wickets, second only to Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan, who took 800.
Betfair are set for a big summer and winter of cricket, launching a new show with The Overlap: Stick to Cricket. Don’t miss the first episode next week, where the team will be reviewing the opening test of the series between England and India.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk