Jonathan Agnew
International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Test debut (cap 508) | 9 August 1984 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last Test | 6 August 1985 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ODI debut (cap 77) | 23 January 1985 v India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last ODI | 17 February 1985 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1979–1992 | Leicestershire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 5 August 2008 |
Jonathan Philip Agnew,
Agnew had a successful
While still a player, Agnew began a career in cricket journalism and commentary. Since his retirement as a player, he has become a leading voice of cricket on radio, as the BBC Radio cricket correspondent and as a commentator on Test Match Special. He has also contributed as a member of Australian broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Grandstand team.
Agnew's on-air "leg over" comment on Test Match Special, made to fellow commentator Brian Johnston in 1991, provoked giggling fits during a live broadcast and reaction from across the UK. The incident has been voted "the greatest sporting commentary ever" in a BBC poll;[2] Michael Henderson, one of Agnew's peers and rivals, has described him as "a master broadcaster ... the pick of the sports correspondents at the BBC."[3]
Playing career
Background and early years
Agnew was born on 4 April 1960 at West Park Hospital in Macclesfield, Cheshire, to Margaret (née McConnell) and Philip Agnew.[4][5] His parents' forthcoming marriage was announced in The Times in 1957: Philip Agnew was described as "the only son of Mr and Mrs Norris M. Agnew of Dukenfield Hall, Mobberley, Cheshire" and Margaret as "youngest daughter of Mr and Mrs A.F.V. McConnell of Hampton Hall, Worthen, Shropshire".[6] The Agnews had a second son in June 1962 and were recorded as living at "Bainton near Stamford, Lincs"; in April 1966, a daughter, Felicity, was born and was announced as "a sister for Jonathan and Christopher".[7][8] Agnew's paternal grandmother, Lady Mona Agnew, died aged 110 years and 170 days in 2010 and was on the list of the 100 longest-lived British people ever.[9]
Jonathan Agnew recalls growing up on the family farm and first becoming aware of cricket aged "eight or nine"; his father would carry a radio around and listen to Test Match Special:
"The programme sparked an interest in me, in the same way it has in so many tens of thousands of children down the years, igniting a passion that lasts a lifetime."[10]
Driven by early enjoyment of the media coverage of cricket, Agnew developed a love for playing the game. At the end of days spent watching cricket on television in a blacked-out room with the commentary provided by the radio, Agnew would go into the garden and practise his bowling for hours, trying to imitate the players he had seen.
From the age of eight, Agnew boarded at Taverham Hall School near Norwich.[13] His first cricket coach was Eileen Ryder and, according to Agnew, after "a couple of years"[14] a professional arrived at the school: Ken Taylor, a former batsman for Yorkshire who had played three Tests for England in the late 1950s and early 1960s.[14]
Agnew attended
"For an eighteen-year-old bowler I was unusually fast, and enjoyed terrorising our opponents, be they schoolboys (8 wickets for 2 runs and 7 for 11 stick in the memory) or, better still, the teachers in the annual staff match. This, I gather, used to be a friendly affair until I turned up, and I relished the chance to settle a few scores on behalf of my friends – for whom I was the equivalent of a hired assassin – as well as for myself."[18]
Having played for Surrey under-19s the previous year,[19] he began playing for Surrey's second XI in 1977,[20] but Surrey made no move to sign him as a player. At a home match against Hampshire, the teenage Agnew was the only player to stand up to then Surrey coach and former England player Fred Titmus after the latter racially abused the Guyanese-born Surrey player Lonsdale Skinner, an incident of which Agnew later said: "The consequences hadn’t really dawned on me. But clearly it was a career-ender".[19][21] Leicestershire County Cricket Club did, however, take note of Agnew's impressive performances in local club cricket and for Uppingham School, for whom he took 37 wickets at a bowling average of 8 in 1977,[5] and signed him while he was still a schoolboy in time for the 1978 season.[18]
County cricket
On his
Agnew won a
"He struck the captain, Mike Brearley, a nasty blow in the face. It was, Agnew recalls, merely a gentle delivery off two paces that flew off a wet patch; but it did not deter the headline writers. Such early publicity did him no favours, but when a bowler arrives who is young, fast and English, a quiet settling-in period to one of the more difficult apprenticeships in sport is often denied him." – Wisden[15]
Agnew's 1979 season was disrupted by injury. The Editor's Notes of the 1980 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack reported, under the heading "England's Promising Youngsters", that Agnew had strengthened himself over the winter by felling trees.[30] Agnew's own account is that 1979–80 was "the worst winter of his life", although his recollection is that he spent it working as a lorry driver.[31] He did, however, make his List A limited overs debut in 1979, playing just once, against the Sri Lanka touring team – his competitive List A debut followed in 1980, in the Benson & Hedges Cup against Scotland:[32] he bowled just three overs (for five runs) and did not bat.[33]
Test cricket
Agnew's career did not initially live up to his early promise. In his first six seasons as a first-class cricketer, his largest haul of wickets was 31 in 1980.
He carried that success forward into the County Championship, picking up wickets for Leicestershire including a ten wicket match haul against
Wisden describes how in the first innings, Agnew's accuracy was affected by debutant nerves,
England's next match was a one-off home Test against Sri Lanka and Agnew retained his place in the England team. At the time, Sri Lanka were regarded as the minnows of world cricket:[43] this was only their 12th Test match and their first at Lord's,[44] but they dominated the match, taking a 121-run lead on first innings and declaring twice.[45] It was a disappointment for England and, in a batsman-friendly match in which the Sri Lankans racked up 785 runs for just 14 wickets, Agnew suffered. Wisden described England's pacemen as ineffective;[44] Agnew's match figures were 2–177 off 43 overs.[45] Poor performance and a muscle injury limited him to bowling a single over on the last day; later, Agnew reflected on other negative aspects of this match: "I felt a complete outsider, not part of the set-up. I think the feeling in the dressing room was that the game had been a bit of a cock-up."[46]
England toured India and Sri Lanka that winter. Agnew replaced the injured Paul Allott after the second Test. However, he failed to be selected for a Test match, with England's decision to field two spinners (Pat Pocock and Phil Edmonds) in each Test playing a part in limiting Agnew's opportunities.[47] Agnew played just one first-class match on the tour,[48] versus South Zone in Secunderabad, achieving match figures of seven wickets at an average of 29,[49] but he did play in three One Day Internationals (ODIs), two in India and one in Australia.[50] His debut ODI was promising, as he took 3–38 in a losing cause.[51] However, in his remaining two ODIs, he proved very expensive, taking no further wickets and conceding more than seven runs an over in each.[52][53]
Agnew began the
England decided to make further changes.Agnew had performed consistently in county cricket through June and July,[57] culminating in what was to be, statistically, his finest moment as a bowler. Playing against Kent, he took 9–70 in the first innings.[58] His timing was perfect and he was called up for the Fourth Test at Old Trafford to partner Ian Botham and Paul Allott in an all-Cheshire born seam attack. The match finished as a draw, and Agnew failed to take a wicket. He was relegated from an opening bowler in the first innings, to fifth bowler in the second, in which he only bowled nine overs.[59] He was subsequently dropped again from the side, only for Richard Ellison to cement his place with match-winning performances that helped claim the Ashes for England.[60]
Later playing career and retirement
In the
Agnew's form remained good: he followed his 1987 feat of taking the second-most wickets in the County Championship[64] by taking the third-most in 1988.[65] In 1989, with two years of good form behind him and England losing 4–0 in the 1989 Ashes series,[note 3] Agnew "came frustratingly close to the recall to the England team that I had set my heart on."[61]
County captain and friend of Agnew, David Gower was England captain, and a number of fast bowlers from around the country called the telephone in the Leicestershire dressing room, to tell Gower that they were injured and unavailable for the Sixth Test.[61] According to Agnew's account, Gower was at a loss as to whom to call into the squad.[61]
Agnew recalls that county colleague Peter Willey made a suggestion:
"'What about Agnew?' suggested Peter Willey ... 'He's bowling pretty well at the moment.' David's face lit up. 'Of course!' he said. 'Jonathan, you're in. Go home, get your England stuff ready, and I'll call first thing tomorrow ...' Even though I was approximately the seventeenth choice, this was still fantastic news ... After three disappointing Test appearances, this was my second chance, and the opportunity to set the record straight ... [The following day] the telephone finally rang. 'Got some bad news, I'm afraid,' David began. 'I couldn't persuade
Mickey Stewart, so you're not in any more. They've gone for Alan Igglesden. Know anything about him?' With that, David must have known his influence as England captain was over – and indeed Graham Gooch succeeded him after that Test. I felt utterly devastated, and knew I would never play for England again, which had been my main motivating force. So when the Today newspaper offered me the post of cricket correspondent the following summer, it was an easy decision to make. I might have been only thirty, which was no age to retire from professional cricket, and I could easily have played for another five years. But it was definitely time to move on."[66]
Agnew formally retired from playing professional cricket at the end of the following season: Leicestershire's last match of the
Playing style and career summary
Agnew's best first-class bowling figures were 9 for 70 and he took six ten-wicket hauls in 218 matches. In the 1988 Cricketer of the Year editorial on Agnew,[note 4] Wisden noted that "his pace comes from a whippy wrist action and co-ordination ... In the field, Agnew has at times appeared to be moving with his bootlaces tied together, but his long run-up was one of the more graceful in the game. However, it was the shortening of that run-up, and a cutting-down of pace, which led to ... achievements [late in his career]"[15]
As a batsman, Agnew had some highs, but it was his weaker suit. His highest first-class batting score was 90, starting initially as nightwatchman in 1987 against Yorkshire, at North Marine Road Ground, Scarborough. Wisden commented, "Agnew hit a spectacular, career-best 90 from 68 balls, including six sixes and eight fours, and then took the first five Yorkshire wickets to fall".[70] Wisden commented that Agnew was no all-rounder, but he could "certainly bat ... on his day he can destroy anything pitched up around off stump."[15] The same piece noted his usual playing style, "playing hard but always with a sense of fun".[15]
Agnew reflects on his playing career as having had two periods:
"My career could be divided up into two sections: the first being when I was an out-and-out fast bowler and played for England when I probably should not have done; and the second being when I slowed down a bit, learned how to swing the ball and did not play for England when I probably should have done.[71]
His final Test was only twelve months after his England debut, and his first and last ODIs were played less than a month apart. Cricket commentator Colin Bateman opined, "his fleeting taste of Test cricket should have been added to in 1987 and 1988 when he was the most consistent fast bowler in the country, taking 194 wickets, but in 1989, when England were desperate for pace bowlers, his omission amounted to wanton neglect by a regime which questioned his desire".[72] In 1988, when Agnew was selected as a Cricketer of the Year, Wisden recorded this verdict on the contrariness of Agnew's Test career: "Asked about Agnew's omission, the chairman of selectors, P. B. H. May, expressed concern about his fitness – rather a baffling statement to make about someone who bowled more overs than any other fast bowler in the Championship."[15]
Media and broadcasting career
Agnew began gaining experience as a journalist in 1987, while still playing cricket, when at the invitation of John Rawling he took off-season employment with BBC Radio Leicester as a sports producer.[31] It was during this period that he "fell in love with radio",[31] and following his retirement, he had a short stint as chief cricket writer of Today newspaper.[73] While covering the 1990–91 Ashes series for Today, he was approached by Peter Baxter about joining Test Match Special.[74] Unhappy at certain editorial decisions that had been taken during his time with the newspaper, Agnew agreed to attend an interview after the tour.[74]
Agnew joined Test Match Special in 1991,
When Channel 4 won the broadcasting rights to television coverage of England's home Test matches in 1998, Agnew was approached by the broadcaster and offered a job on the commentary team.[80] Agnew declined the opportunity, opting to remain BBC cricket correspondent, in part because he was a "radio man" and in part out of loyalty.[80] The following year, England hosted the 1999 Cricket World Cup. The BBC had the UK television rights, but with so many specialist TV cricket presenters now at Channel 4 and therefore unavailable to the BBC, Agnew was asked to present the coverage.[81] His recollections of the experience are that it was something of a trial, helped only by the experienced Richie Benaud alongside him:
I really had no option but to agree to do it, despite my reservations about working in television. Coming so quickly after my decision to stay on the radio, this was quite an irony. I was given one day of training ... [Transmission ended with the presenter being given a countdown] from one minute to zero, at which point you have to say goodbye. I did not find that easy at all ... I made a real hash of it after one of the early games ... [Richie] ... very kindly, suggested a plan ... as soon as the count started in our earpieces I would ask him a question, and he would talk until the count reached eight seconds to go. I would then thank him, turn to the camera and tell the audience briefly about the next game to be televised. Miraculously, for the rest of the tournament I always heard 'zero' in my ear at the moment I said goodbye ... the whole experience served to confirm my belief that my decision to stick with Test Match Special was the right one.[82]
In addition to his writing and broadcasting work, Agnew's commentary has been recorded for several computer games, including the
From 2001 to 2005, Agnew provided the voice of Flynn, the oval-shaped screen, on children's gameshow
Agnew has won many awards for his broadcasting, including two Sony Awards for Best Reporter (1992 and 1994), and Best Radio Broadcaster of the Year (2010), an award from the Association of Sports Journalists.[77] Agnew was made an Honorary Doctor of Arts by De Montfort University, Leicester in November 2008,[87] and an Honorary Doctor of Letters by Loughborough University in July 2011.[88]
His peers in sports journalism have frequently commented on Agnew's skills as a broadcaster and writer.
In 2016 Agnew was a member of the BBC commentary team at the 2016 Summer Olympics, covering equestrian events.[89] He earns £185,000 – £189,999 as BBC cricket correspondent.[90]
Agnew was appointed as a
Notable broadcasting incidents
In 2001, Agnew was part of the BBC team that was sent to
In 2004, the Zimbabwe government banned media from following the
In the summer of 2008, then England captain
Agnew was involved in a minor controversy regarding an appearance by Lily Allen on Test Match Special in 2009.[98] The Daily Telegraph reported that "the cricket-loving Allen struck up an instant rapport with Agnew, and the BBC received largely positive feedback for the 30-minute interview", but Will Buckley, writing for The Observer, described Agnew's "amorous ambitions" as "positioned ... firmly on the pervy side of things".[99] Agnew was furious, noting he "gave ... Will Buckley 24 hrs to apologise for calling me a pervert, and he has declined ... As you can imagine, I have taken being called a pervert quite badly."[98] Allen herself supported Agnew: "[I] really think this Will Buckley guy should apologise to ... [Agnew], he was nothing but kind and gentlemanly to me during our interview. I don't know 1 person that agrees with The Observer on this one."[98] Buckley eventually apologised.
"Leg over" incident
Agnew has been known to laugh at or include occasional sexual innuendo while on air.[100][101] One example took place in August 1991, when Agnew was commentating with Brian Johnston. In a review of the day, Johnston was describing how Ian Botham, while batting, had overbalanced and tried, but failed, to step over his stumps. Botham was consequently given out hit wicket. Agnew's comment on this action was: "He just didn't quite get his leg over."[102] Botham had attracted a number of headlines during his career for his sexual exploits and in British English, "getting one's leg over" is a euphemism for having sexual intercourse.[103]
The comment led to Johnston becoming incapacitated by laughter.[104] He initially tried to continue his summary, before becoming unable to speak for laughing, at one point saying "Aggers, for goodness' sake, stop it" as he struggled to regain his composure.[105]
The incident was heard by thousands of commuters driving home from work, many of whom were forced to stop driving because they were laughing so much:
Private life
Agnew's first marriage was to Beverley in 1983;[12] it ended in divorce in 1992, a year after he became BBC cricket correspondent.[106] He has written about the role that cricket played in the collapse of the relationship, comparing his circumstances with those of then England batsman Graham Thorpe.[106] He also found that his job interfered with his relationship with his children:
I had two young children, aged seven and five ... it was quickly evident that for me to have custody of my daughters – or even to form a relationship with them – was made impossible by my job. What chance do you have when, be it playing Test cricket or commentating on it, you are away for months at a time each and every winter? ... There was one occasion when I did not recognise my eldest, Jennifer, when I returned from one tour ... my children continue to ask me why I did not resign and take a job that would have kept me in the country and allowed me to see them more often. I find that one especially hard to answer."[106]
Agnew has subsequently remarried: he met Emma Agnew, current editor of BBC East Midlands Today,[107] when they worked together on BBC Radio Leicestershire.[108]
Agnew suffers from Dupuytren's contracture, a medical condition that affects the connective tissue in his hands. He has had numerous operations to address the progressive condition, which causes the hands to contract into a claw-like position.[109]
Personality
During Agnew's playing career, a dispute with team-mate Phillip DeFreitas attracted media attention: when DeFreitas poured salt over Agnew's lunch, Agnew responded by throwing DeFreitas' cricket bag and kit from the dressing room balcony.[110] Former England cricketer Derek Pringle has written about Agnew's sense of humour, describing him as "hysterical".[111] The pair toured Sri Lanka together on England B's 1986 tour.[112] Pringle recalls that one hot day when England were in the field, Agnew came in for lunch: "It's ****ing red hot on the field, and when you come off it's ****ing red hot in the dressing-room," Agnew screamed. "Then, what do you get for lunch, ****ing red hot curry?"[111]
Assisted suicide allegation
It was reported in various newspapers in 2013 that Agnew had offered to accompany Brian Dodds, his second wife's ex-husband, to the
BBC reprimand
In 2019, journalist Jonathan Liew wrote an article in which he expressed concern about some of the language used in the media to describe Jofra Archer’s selection for England. Liew wrote “Who doesn’t love morale and camaraderie, after all? – Until you begin to question why Archer is deemed such a grave threat to it.” Agnew called Liew a "“sad racist troll after clickbait” on Twitter,[114] adding “Fucking disgrace. You have massive chips on your shoulders… you are a racist.” Agnew then went on to describe Liew as "strange" and "a cunt" followed by questioning “who the fuck are you”. Agnew was reprimanded by the BBC;[115] he also deleted his Twitter account.[114] In October 2022 a conversation between Agnew and Liew was published by The Observer in which both expressed regret over the incident.[19]
Bibliography
Agnew has written four books:
- 8 Days a Week: Diary of a Professional Cricketer. Ringpress. 1988. ISBN 0-948955-30-9.
- Over to You, Aggers. Gollancz. 1997. ISBN 0-575-06454-4.
- Thanks, Johnners: An Affectionate Tribute to a Broadcasting Legend. HarperCollins. 2010. ISBN 978-0-00-734309-6.
- Aggers' Ashes. HarperCollins. 2011. ISBN 978-0-00-734312-6.
Notes
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