Cricket: England in spin as Tufnell fined for outburst
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Your support makes all the difference.England 253-6 dec
Rest of India XI 295-4
ENGLAND'S planned spin trial took on an unexpected complexion here yesterday as one of the three spinners, Philip Tufnell, found himself in the dock for his behaviour rather than his form.
The slow left-armer was fined pounds 500 for comments made to the umpire A V Jayaprakash and for his general demeanour during an afternoon's bowling that stretched Tufnell's volatile temperament rather more than the Rest of India's batsmen.
The umpire said words were exchanged and he had to ask Tufnell to 'behave himself', and the England management 'to tell him to cool it'. The England jury of Bob Bennett, Keith Fletcher, Graham Gooch and Alec Stewart sat in judgement for more than two hours before finding Tufnell guilty of 'ungentlemanly conduct towards an umpire' and 'general behaviour considered unbecoming of an England cricketer'.
Tufnell was left in no doubt as to what was expected of his future conduct. The quartet were satisfied he showed disappointment and displeasure rather than dissent and that he did not swear.
Tufnell, who took 0 for 77 from 16 overs and bowled 11 no-balls, has had a bad tour which got rapidly worse in his first over.
Low on confidence and unsettled in India, he suffered a misfield, bowled two no-balls, and saw the prize wicket of Sachin Tendulkar slip from his grasp. Tufnell, briefly recapturing his uneasy genius, had lured the boy wonder from his crease only for the wicketkeeper, Richard Blakey, wrongfooted by a faint edge, to fumble the chance.
Tufnell glared at Blakey and then the heavens in his anguish. Tense and taut, he spent the next few overs chuntering about his luck and cursing the myriad gods of India.
The umpire said later: 'Tufnell was upset because the stumping went down. He was annoyed with the keeper and himself over bowling no-balls. He plucked his cap away a couple of times and words were exchanged. He acted in the heat of the moment but it looks very bad. I told him to behave himself. He was making a scene. The atmosphere is spoiled if that kind of thing happens.
'I have asked the England management to have words with him and tell him to keep his cool. There will be no official complaint, as far as I am concerned the matter is closed.'
Tufnell has been something of an enfant terrible since making his debut two years ago in Australia, mixing match-winning displays with shows of petulance.
On his Melbourne debut, he clashed with the umpire Peter McConnell and followed up with a fractious, if prophetic, afternoon of talent and torment in Sydney.
His behaviour and poor fielding led to exile for much of the following season, only for him to return in style, bowling England to success over the West Indies at The Oval.
Unfortunately neither Gooch, Stewart nor Tufnell's county captain, Mike Gatting, were on hand. Stewart, the England captain for the match, was resting his finger injury while Gooch, who is nursing a cold, and Gatting are not playing.
In their absence John Emburey took the reins for the first time since twice leading England to defeat against the West Indies in 1988.
Neither he nor Ian Salisbury, the other spin triallist for next week's Madras Test, emerged with case proven, although Salisbury managed a couple of positive verdicts, dismissing both Tendulkar and Sanjay Manjrekar.
Tendulkar, after his escape on 23, batted with beauty. It was a mixed blessing when, at 61, he miscued a drive to mid-off where Mike Atherton took a well-judged skier as Robin Smith closed in.
Manjrekar, seeking to regain his Test place, gave Smith, at short-leg, a master-class in how to play spin. Then, four runs from his century, he gently guided Salisbury to slip.
Stewart and Gooch are both expected to be fit for Madras.
(Second day: England won toss)
ENGLAND - First Innings
(Overnight: 230-5)
R J Blakey not out 63
J E Emburey b Prasad 53
I D K Salisbury not out 5
Extras (b2 lb1 nb6 w1) 10
Total (for 6 dec) 253
Fall (cont): 6-241.
Did not bat: P C R Tufnell, D E Malcolm.
Bowling: Ankola 25-6-91-1; Prasad 22-10-39-3; Chatterjee 14-2-37-0; Padmanabhan 19-6-31-0; Kapoor 21-5-45-2; Tendulkar 3-0-7-0.
REST OF INDIA XI - First Innings
A Khurasiya c Atherton b Malcolm 10
W V Raman lbw b Malcolm 24
S V Manjrekar c Emburey b Salisbury 96
* S R Tendulkar c Atherton b Salisbury 61
J V Paranjpe not out 52
A R Kapoor not out 32
Extras (lb6 w1 nb13) 20
Total (for 4) 295
Fall: 1-23 2-50 3-166 4-216.
To bat: V Yadav, V Prasad, K N A Padmanabhan, U Chatterjee, S A Ankola.
Bowling (to date): Malcolm 10-3-41-2; DeFreitas 12-0-45-0; Reeve 7-1-22-0; Tufnell 16-0-76-0; Emburey 18-2-53-0; Salisbury 16-1-51-2.
Umpires: A V Jayaprakash and S Chowdhra.
ENGLAND A (v Tasmania, Launceston, today): M A Roseberry, M N Lathwell, M D Moxon (capt), P J Prichard, G P Thorpe, D J Capel, R C Russell (wkt), D G Cork, A R Caddick, J Boiling, D J Millns.
Captain Moonlight's Notebook, page 23
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