Aug 14 2009
DVD Review: Tuffers’ Ashes - Greats, Gaffes and Geezers
To get myself in the mood (as if I wasn’t already psyched enough) for the forthcoming Ashes decider, I decided to treat myself to some televisual entertainment from eBay.
After a couple of days scouting the ‘ending soonest’ section of the site (which, being the cheapskate I am, is where you’ll usually find me), I plumped for Tuffers’ Ashes for £2.75 from Pause&Play Entertainment (who, by the way, I thoroughly recommend). A very good price considering its relatively recent release - well, in my eyes anyway - in 2006.
”Now, lads, can’t we settle this over a pint?”
A reasonable price, too, in terms of content. Cheeky Chappie and dressing room kipster (he isn’t called The Cat for nothing, you know) Phil Tufnell has roped Henry ‘Blowers’ Blofeld into the piece and together they whizz through over fifty years of Ashes history from Bodyline through to Botham and 2005 in the space of an hour.
Archive footage is remarkably well restored and a cut above the grainy VHS I’m more used to - the only slight grumble I would have is the lack of commentary for certain moments, such as the ‘tragedy’ of Michael Atherton’s run out on 99 and the miracle of Headingley ‘81. For me, the commentary is as much part of the memory as the event itself, but here we’re left to put up with some stock music. It is a minor grumble, though.
“So I says to him, get me a gin and tonic or I’ll hit you with my Wisden Almanack”
For all his experience at the highest level of the game, Phil Tufnell, along with a select few others, is the face of the casual cricket fan, the bloke who is gripped with Ashes Fever every four years but only keeps a small eye on the events in between. This DVD caters for that man — Tuffers’ comedy cuts to camera and well-staged introduction sequence are testament to this — but also offers a bit for the diehard Ashes fanatic in the form of Blowers.
There’s the usual banter you might expect on Test Match Special: tall tales plucked from Mr. Blofeld’s vast memory banks and perhaps even some you haven’t heard before.
There are also one or two nice surprises as well, such as footage of a vintage women’s Ashes match, and… well, I’ll let you find out what else for yourself. All in all, an action-packed hour of classic Ashes entertainment, and though there’s a bit more emphasis on the greats than geezers and gaffes, it’s a well put together DVD that will please cricket fans nationwide (and perhaps some Australians, too).
