Cricket: Cat gets the cream at last; Close-up: Phil Tufnell

England's tempestuous spinner is on the verge of fulfilment after eighteen months in limbo. Simon O'Hagan met him

There IS a Brearley Close up the road from the Uxbridge cricket ground, and Gatting Way runs alongside it. Tufnell Crescent sounds a bit far-fetched, but judging by the reception he got there last week, it might yet find its way on to the local street map.

"Congratulations," the diehard Middlesex supporter shouted as she unfolded her chair on the boundary and Phil Tufnell, his cigarette just put out, hurried past her, the last man to join in the practice before the start of the match against Somerset on Thursday morning. "I'm so pleased for him," she told her friend. Later, when play was under way and the ground had begun to fill up, warm applause followed the invitation over the tannoy for the crowd to express their appreciation of Tufnell's achievement in being chosen to tour with the England cricket team this winter after an absence of more than a year and a half.

Everyone is supposed to love a winner, but sportspeople in the Tufnell mould - best described as a kind of awkward angularity, and not just in the physical sense - are proof that a spot of human weakness only increases their appeal. From George Best to Stanley Bowles, Alex Higgins to Paul Gascoigne, the self-destructive urge has never been a hindrance to popularity with the public. Quite the reverse, in fact. As with those stars, glory for Tufnell has been tempered by huge amounts of strife - in his private life and in his cricket - so he offers a much clearer point of identification than the more smoothly successful provide.

Since touring with England in Australia in 1994-95, Tufnell has been out in the cold, serving an unofficial ban after a succession of misdemeanours on and off the field had tried the authorities' patience to breaking point. At no stage has his reputation as England's most gifted spin bowler come under serious threat, but that did not prevent him sitting out four Test series and the World Cup while Richard Illingworth, Mike Watkinson, Min Patel, Ian Salisbury and Robert Croft were all given their chance.

Now, though, Tufnell - "the Cat" - is back, welcomed by anyone who despairs of seeing talent going to waste and carrying the hope that he can not only keep his behaviour in check and prosper in Zimbabwe and New Zealand but go on to play a key part in winning back the Ashes next summer and beyond. To some, an assurance from Tufnell as to his future conduct is probably not worth the fag-paper it's written on, but there can be no doubt that he does appreciate the opportunity he has been given to rebuild his international career at an age - 30 - that still gives him time to establish himself once and for all as England's best slow left-armer since Derek Underwood.

"To me it's like I'm starting all over again," he said when he finally got off the field on Friday afternoon after Somerset had ground their way to a first-innings total of 485 (Tufnell one for 86 off 45 overs). "I know I've done a few things wrong in the past, but that's all behind me. This is a new challenge. I'm looking forward to it immensely. I'm going there to do as well as I can, be a part of the team and try to make it a successful tour and hopefully not let anyone down."

That is what Tufnell has often done on previous tours, where he has played 16 of his 22 Tests. If it has not been a row with an umpire, it's been a falling-out with the captain. Authority and Tufnell have never sat happily together, and both Graham Gooch and Mike Atherton have had the cares of office increased by problems involving him.

It is not just Tufnell, however, who reckons he is a changed man. So too do the two men who probably know him better than anyone else in cricket - his Middlesex captain Mike Gatting and former Middlesex spin partner John Emburey. Indeed, both agree that Emburey's departure, to Northamptonshire, at the end of last season has been an important factor in the maturing of Tufnell this season.

"He's been prepared to take on more responsibility," Gatting said. "He's been the senior spinner, and I think that's helped him." Emburey said: "He's come on a heck of a lot because I've not been there. He's had to do the bulk of the bowling, and when the stick was flying around it was me that tended to take over. He's learnt to be a more contained. He's become meaner as a bowler.

"Mike's been good for him. He hasn't let him get away with things. If Tuffers has bowled a bad ball and been hit and wanted to move someone on to the boundary, Mike's said no. He's not going to set fields for bad bowling."

The result is that Tufnell believes he is playing better than ever. He may not overtake the 88-wicket haul he amassed in 1991 (he has 75 so far with a maximum of three innings left in which to bowl), but he has also felt the reward of the work he says he has put into his fielding and his batting. Indeed, he seems as proud of the 300-odd runs he has scored in the County Championship as the wickets he has taken. "I'm a little bit older and a little bit wiser," Tufnell said. "You grow up a little and become a bit cannier with your bowling. I'm happy with the way things have gone, happy with more responsibility. I've always gone out there to perform my best for Middlesex and hoped that if you put some performances together the England thing will come round."

More stability in his domestic life has benefited him too. Tufnell has no desire to look back on his turbulent past - the annus horribilis of 1994 when he was fined for assaulting his girlfriend, was himself assaulted by her father, and for a while was turned into a tabloid villain at whom any amount of mud could be thrown - no doubt some of it justifiably. A new woman has since come into his life, and he has married and settled down. "I've got a nice home life and I'm sure that helps." Gatting said he thought that one of the reasons Tufnell was bowling so consistently was because "his mind was a lot clearer".

Certainly Gatting's report to Atherton on the new Tufnell facilitated his recall, and the England captain will feel further reassured by the presence on the winter tour of Emburey as assistant coach to David Lloyd. Tufnell is glad about that too. "It's not only good for me, it's good for England. He's a shrewd cookie. It'll be nice to have me old team-mate. It's similar to having Gatt around. I'm very fortunate with them both." Let us hope England feel fortunate to have Tufnell.

Triumphant times

1986: County debut for Middlesex

1990: Middlesex win County Championship

1990-91: England debut in Australia. Takes 5 for 61 in his second Test, at Sydney

1991: Takes 6 for 25 in West Indies' first innings at the Oval to set up England victory, and 5 for 94 in win over Sri Lanka. Second English first-class wicket-taker with 88

1991-92: Test-best figures of 7 for 47 against New Zealand at Christchurch (11 for 147 in the match)

1993: Middlesex win County Championship

1993-94: Plays last two Tests of West Indies tour, helping England to win in Bridgetown and draw in Antigua

1996: Takes career-best 13 for 123 against Lancashire a week before being recalled to England for the first time for 18 months

1990-91: Disciplined by England management for sloppy fielding on tour of Australia

1992: Out for two months because of appendix operation. Plays in only one Test against Pakistan

1992-93: Fined in India for kicking cap in disgust after stumping missed off bowling 1993-94: Goes missing after being omitted from team for first Test of tour of West Indies. Does not play until fourth Test

1994: Private life implodes. Spends night in police cell after domestic rumpus and is fined pounds 1,400 for assaulting his girlfriend. Is victim of assault by girlfriend's father

1994-95: Spends night in hospital after throwing a fit in hotel room on tour of Australia. Bust-up with umpires in Melbourne one-dayer

Turbulent times