Tuffey's accusers go to ground

Two English tourists who filmed New Zealand's fast bowler, Daryl Tuffey, allegedly having sex with a Christchurch woman have gone to ground in Australia, refusing to contact even their own families.

Paddy Curtis and Archie Brookbank, both 19, have been at the centre of an Australasian media hunt ever since The Christchurch Press newspaper revealed they had video-taped Tuffey allegedly having consensual sex with a 23-year-old Christchurch woman.

Tuffey was hauled before the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) board to face serious misconduct charges on Wednesday, although NZC will not elaborate on the "off-field incident" from which the charges arose. The pair who made the video left Christchurch on February 26 to continue their overseas holiday in Australia. They stayed two nights at a Sydney backpackers' hostel but have since disappeared.

Curtis's father, Edward Curtis, based in Ludlow, England, told AAP his family had heard of the allegations through Christchurch relatives, but efforts to track their son in Sydney had been fruitless. "I can't comment on what he's been up to," said Edward Curtis. "We haven't made any contact with him. We've been trying his phone [in Sydney] and he's not answering."

It is understood the family of one of the teenagers has cut his money supply and will force him to return to England. One source, who had seen two other sex videos made by Paddy Curtis and Brookbank, described them as "immature young boys" who thought it was "cool to get girls on videotape and take it to pubs and show it off".

While the men are ducking for cover and Tuffey is refusing to comment, the woman in the video has denied all knowledge of Tuffey. The woman, a 23-year-old sales representative, her boyfriend and her father all denied this week a video existed. She admitted knowing Paddy Curtis and Brookbank through a mutual friend but, despite allegations she was involved in the video, she was adamant she did not know Tuffey.

The woman says she first heard news of the Tuffey videotape "when a rumour went around three weeks ago", but added: "I've never met him in my life."

The NZC misconduct inquiry is expected to be completed in two weeks.