Daryl Tuffey: 10 interesting facts about the New Zealand pacer

Daryl Tuffey, born June 11, 1978, was New Zealand’s opening bowler for much of the 2000s. On his 37th birthday, Shiamak Unwalla looks at 10 interesting facts about the man had a knack for taking early wickets.

1.  A long, long over

Daryl Tuffey is known for bowling the first over of the match on most occasions. However, against Australia in the third One-Day International in 2005, Tuffey lost the plot completely. He bowled one of the longest overs in ODIs: 14 balls.

The sequence read: nb+4, nb, nb, nb (also wide), wd, wd, 4, wd, (at this point they were 15/0 in 1 ball), 0, wd, 0, 0, 0, 0. To Tuffey’s credit, the last four balls were quite good.

2.  Match-fixing allegations

Tuffey was accused of match-fixing in 2014, but he vehemently denied the charges, and was later cleared. According to tvnz.co.nz, Tuffey said, “Obviously my name has been brought up in some circles somewhere down the line and I need to find out what is going on.”

3.  Controversial ad

It is ironic that Tuffey was accused of match-fixing, given that in 2011 he was a part of an ad campaign by a New Zealand brewery in which he takes a dig at Pakistanis for fixing matches. The ad was later withdrawn after outrage from the Pakistan community.

4.  Indo-Pak basher

While it helped that Tuffey played a lot of ODIs against India and Pakistan, there can be no denying that he loved bowling to the subcontinent neighbours. He took 24 wickets against India and 32 against Pakistan, both of which came at a terrific average and strike rate. His career-best figures of four for 24 came against Pakistan as well. His Test record against these countries is even better: 21 wickets in just four games against India at 16.38, and 28 in seven matches against Pakistan at 26.60.

5.  Drunk-driving controversy

In September 2007, Tuffey was caught driving under the influence of alcohol, and was fined $ 420 by an Auckland court.

6.  ICL stint

Tuffey played for the Chandigarh Lions during Indian Cricket League (ICL), which is possibly where he came under the scanner of match-fixing authorities.

7.  Baseball fan

Tuffey has called himself a ‘Fantasy Baseball Guru’ on Twitter.

8.  Huffey-Puffey

Known for his loud grunts while bowling, Tuffey was known as “Huffey-Puffey” by his teammates at Northern Districts in New Zealand’s domestic competition.

9.  Maori parentage.

His Maori heritage created controversy in 2003 when the legendary Martin Crowe wrote in Wisden, “Tuffey is a Maori and traditionally not many Maori make good cricketers. They don’t have the patience or the temperament to play through a whole day, let alone over a Test match.” As the article created a furore, Crowe apologised and clarified: “The intention was to be positive about a young Maori bowler who I think has made a significant breakthrough.

10.  “Sexual misconduct

In 2005, Tuffey was fined NZ$1000 after admitting to charge of sexual misconduct by New Zealand Cricket (NZC). A misconduct inquiry was initiated by the New Zealand cricket board after reports arose of an intimate video clip involving Tuffey and a Christchurch woman. Tuffey admitted to the event, and said that he had deleted the video filmed by two British tourists.

(Shiamak Unwalla is a proud Whovian and all-round geek who also dabbles in cricket writing as a reporter with CricketCountry. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)