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English cricket broadcaster and professional cricketer

Jonathan Philip Agnew, (born 4 April 1960) is an English cricket broadcaster and a former professional 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. Agnew had a successful 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, after his last international match, 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 reaction from across the UK. The incident has been voted "the greatest sporting commentary ever" in a BBC poll; 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."

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, 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]" 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. "</blockquote> 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". 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." While covering the 1990–91 Ashes series for Today, he was approached by Peter Baxter about joining Test Match Special. Unhappy at certain editorial decisions that had been taken during his time with the newspaper, Agnew agreed to attend an interview after the tour. in time for the first Test match of the summer. He was initially a junior member of the Test Match Special team, learning at close quarters from figures such as Brian Johnston, Henry Blofeld and Bill Frindall. The same year, he was also appointed the BBC's cricket correspondent, In 2007, when asked which sports journalist he most respected, Martin Jenkins named Agnew, because he "combines astute journalism with apparently effortless communication skills." He has also commentated for the Australian ABC Radio network during Ashes series in Australia. 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. Agnew declined the opportunity, opting to remain BBC cricket correspondent, in part because he was a "radio man" and in part out of loyalty. His recollections of the experience are that it was something of a trial, helped only by the experienced Richie Benaud alongside him:

In addition to his writing and broadcasting work, Agnew's commentary has been recorded for several computer games, including the International Cricket Captain and Brian Lara Cricket series. He is a shareholder in TestMatchExtra. com Ltd, a company which runs the website of the same address and acquired The Wisden Cricketer magazine from BSkyB in December 2010. From 2001 to 2005, Agnew provided the voice of Flynn, the oval shaped screen, on children's gameshow 50/50. 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. and an Honorary Doctor of Letters by Loughborough University in July 2011. His peers in sports journalism have frequently commented on Agnew's skills as a broadcaster and writer. Michael Henderson, in the aftermath of the Stanford cricket controversy, wrote of Agnew as a "master broadcaster   the pick of the sports correspondents at the BBC   Agnew's is a sane, reasonable voice in a game that is going potty. Fair minded, even tempered, he has become one of the finest specialists the BBC has ever had. In his understated way he speaks for the game: not the people who play it." He earns £185,000 – £189,999 as BBC cricket correspondent. Agnew was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of Leicestershire in October 2015, and as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to broadcasting.

In 2001, Agnew was part of the BBC team that was sent to Sri Lanka to cover England's Test match series. As a result of confusion and a row over broadcasting rights, the BBC team found itself barred from the Galle International Stadium, where the first Test was to take place. Agnew's reaction to the event was, "It's a sad day for everyone involved in English cricket. Is it really that cricket is getting so greedy that everyone who wants to come and report on the game for the good of the game is going to have to be charged for it?" Agnew's reaction was combative, appearing on BBC Breakfast and giving his opinion that the ban presented the ECB with a chance to withdraw from the controversial tour and that they should take the opportunity. When Atherton had himself been England captain, Agnew had led the calls for Atherton to resign over a controversy known as the "dirt in the pocket" affair. Agnew was involved in a minor controversy regarding an appearance by Lily Allen on Test Match Special in 2009. 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". 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." 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." 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. The comment led to Johnston becoming incapacitated by laughter. 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. 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: 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. when they worked together on BBC Radio Leicestershire. 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.

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. Former England cricketer Derek Pringle has written about Agnew's sense of humour, describing him as "hysterical". The pair toured Sri Lanka together on England B's 1986 tour. 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?"

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, 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; he also deleted his Twitter account. In October 2022 a conversation between Agnew and Liew was published by The Observer in which both expressed regret over the incident.