How Not to be a Cricketer

Book excerpt: 'Brilliant' Paul Newman, Daily Mail SHORTLISTED FOR THE BEST SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT BOOK OF THE YEAR In How Not to be a Cricketer, former England international and TV personality Phil Tufnell highlights the many potential pitfalls of a professional cricket career, and provides a hilarious insight into how to avoid them and what happens when, like him, you don't. I was the model cricketer – if anyone wanted to know how not to be one. My career included more ups and downs than the big dipper at Margate and more bumps than the dodgems next door. And yet somehow I climbed off the ride unblemished. I survived to walk away on my own terms. For someone who never quite fitted the mould, I was actually pretty good at not being a cricketer. In his superb new book, Phil Tufnell looks back over his life and career to provide brilliant advice and insights, often learned the hard way, from his own experiences as a cricketer. If you want to learn how to make a good first impression, maybe don’t have your hair cut in a Mohican. And when, after a drunken night on an England Under-19 tour to Barbados, the players were told ‘You cannot be caught coming in at a ridiculous hour and still be drunk in the morning’ most took his wise words on board; Tuffers vowed not to get caught. Packed with brilliant stories and revealing anecdotes about some of the great players of his time, such as Mike Atherton, Mike Gatting, Graham Gooch and Nasser Hussain, How Not to be a Cricketer is the perfect read for anyone who wants to know more about the potential pitfalls of the game, and how to avoid them.