Jonathan Agnew

Jonathan Agnew

MBE, DL
A smiling middle-aged white man with short hair, wearing a pink shirt and red pullover, looking to his left with the tip of his tongue between his lips
Agnew at the Adelaide Oval in 2006
Personal information
Full name
Jonathan Philip Agnew
Born (1960-04-04) 4 April 1960 (age 64)
Macclesfield, Cheshire, England
NicknameAggers, Spiro
Height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm fast
Role
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 508)9 August 1984 v West Indies
Last Test6 August 1985 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 77)23 January 1985 v India
Last ODI17 February 1985 v Australia
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1979–1992Leicestershire
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 3 3 218 147
Runs scored 10 2 2,108 335
Batting average 10.00 – 11.51 9.30
100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/2 0/0
Top score 5 2* 90 26
Balls bowled 552 126 35,388 6,813
Wickets 4 3 666 158
Bowling average 93.25 40.00 29.25 29.26
5 wickets in innings 0 0 37 2
10 wickets in match 0 0 6 0
Best bowling 2/51 3/38 9/70 5/30
Catches/stumpings 0/– 1/– 39/– 19/–
Source: Cricinfo, 5 August 2008

Jonathan Philip Agnew, MBE, DL (born 4 April 1960) is an English cricket broadcaster and a former cricketer. He was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, and educated at Uppingham School. He is nicknamed "Aggers" and, less commonly, "Spiro" – the latter, according to Debrett's Cricketers' Who's Who, after former US Vice-President Spiro Agnew.[1]

Agnew had a first-class career as a fast bowler for Leicestershire from 1979 to 1990, returning briefly in 1992. In first-class cricket he took 666 wickets at an average of 29.25. Agnew won three Test caps for England, as well as playing three One Day Internationals in the mid-1980s, although his entire international career lasted just under a year. In county cricket, Agnew's most successful seasons came toward the end of his career when he had learned to swing the ball. He was second- and third-leading wicket-taker in 1987 and 1988 respectively, including the achievement of 100 wickets in a season in 1987. He was named as one of the five Cricketers of the Year by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 1988.

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 widespread reaction. The incident has been voted "the greatest sporting commentary ever" in a BBC poll.[2]

Agnew has been called "a master broadcaster ... the pick of the sports correspondents at the BBC."[3]

  1. ^ Sproat, Iain, ed. (1980). Debrett's Cricketers' Who's Who (1980 ed.). Debrett's Peerage Ltd. p. 10. ISBN 0-905649-26-5.
  2. ^ Culf, Andrew (20 August 2005). "The incident which led to the greatest sporting commentary of all time (according to 5 Live listeners): 'He just couldn't get his leg over'". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 21 May 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  3. ^ Henderson, Michael (24 February 2009). "Aggers puts Radio Halfwit in its place". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 September 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2011.