Hilarious second Phil Tufnell struggles to include himself
Phil Tufnell was caught struggling to contain his laughter live on BBC Test Match Special as colleague Alison Mitchell described going ‘bareback riding’.
Webcam footage shows the former spin bowler losing his composure whilst commentating on the second day of England’s test match with the West Indies at Lords.
Tufnell – or ‘Tuffers’ as he is commonly known – got the giggles after Mitchell said: ‘I did a bit of bareback riding but that was in the sea in Jamaica though.’
Reacting to the double entendre, Tufnell turns away from her and puts his head on the desk as he shakes with laughter.
Former England captain Alistair Cook was also in the commentary box at the time and can be seen giggling at the comment.
Following a long pause, Mitchell then adds: ‘And it was very enjoyable.’
Webcam footage shows Phil Tufnel lost his composure whilst commentating on the second day of England’s test match with the West Indies at Lords
Tufnell – or ‘Tuffers’ as he is commonly known – got the giggles after Alison Mitchell (left of Tufnell) described going ‘bareback riding’ while live on air
Tufnell played in 42 Test matches and 20 One Day Internationals for the England cricket team between 1990 and 1997 and has been a TMS commentator since 2003
Tufnell continues to laugh and interacts with someone off camera – keeping his microphone away from his mouth to avoid the laughter being caught on air, all whilst Alison continues to commentate on the action.
The former England cricketer finally cools down and returns to commentating as Ben Stokes bowls to Jason Holder.
The interaction was posted onto X , formally known as Twitter, by the official TMS account after one user wrote: ‘Crying with laughter after @AlisonMitchell mentioned bareback riding in Barbados on @bbctms. @philtufnell couldn’t compose himself. #ENGvsWI #tms’
Mitchell is by no means the first cricket commentator to suffer an on-air innuendo.
In 1976, legendary cricketer Brian Johnston is reported to have said ‘The bowler’s Holding; the batsman’s Willey’ while commentating on Michael Holding of the West Indies bowling to Peter Willey of England in a Test match at The Oval in 1976.
However, some scepticism remains as to whether the words were actually uttered.
Johnston was at the heart of another incident in 1991 when he was recorded falling into fits of hysterics when Jonathan Agnew reported that Ian Botham ‘couldn’t quite get his leg over’ when his thigh accidentally removed one of the bails.
Johnston is famously heard telling his co-commentator ‘Aggers, for goodness sake, stop it’, while breathlessly laughing into the microphone.
More recently, in 2020, former England cricket captain and Sky Sports commentator Michael Atherton was left red-faced after reading out what he thought was a local cricket player’s figures during a test match, saying: ‘Hugh Jardon, six for nine at Cockermouth Cricket Club.’
He instantly realised he had been pranked by the person texting in and burst out laughing with co-commentator Rob Key.
Tufnell, Mitchell and Cook were commentating on the second day of action at Lords on Thursday as England close in on winning the first test of the summer against the West Indies.
Jimmy Anderson (centre) took two wickets to leave England on the brink of victory
Gus Atkinson also picked up two wickets, taking him to nine for the match
Resuming on 189-3 with a lead of 68 after bowling out West Indies for 121 on the opening day, England stretched their advantage to 250 runs before being bowled out for 371.
Harry Brook, Joe Root and Jamie Smith all his half-centuries, while Jimmy Anderson ended what is likely to be his final innings as a better unbeaten on 0 after not even facing a ball.
Anderson then took centre stage with the ball, as he bowled West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite, before getting Alize Athanaze caught behind by Smith. Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson also took two wickets apiece to leave West Indies reeling on 79-6, still 171 runs shy of forcing England to bat again.
