Alastair Hignell

England international rugby union player & cricketer

Alastair James Hignell (born 4 September 1955) is an English former rugby union international, first–class cricketer, and broadcaster.

Hignell was born at Ely, Cambridgeshire and educated at Denstone College, an independent boarding school for boys, in the village of Denstone in Staffordshire in Central England before going up to Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. Hignell won Blues at Cambridge in both cricket and rugby union, and when he graduated in 1977 he had already made several England appearances at full back. He was the second man to captain Cambridge at both cricket and rugby union.

Hignell made his England rugby union debut in 1975 in a brutal encounter with Australia in Brisbane – eight days later he was playing for Gloucestershire against Middlesex at Bristol and five weeks later he made 60 in the Varsity match. After leaving university, he continued playing rugby for Bristol and England in the winter, while also working as a teacher (including at Bristol Cathedral School and Sherborne School), and cricket for Gloucestershire in the summer. As a right handed batsman, he scored solidly rather than spectacularly, passing 1,000 runs in a season three times, including his final season in 1983, before his retirement. He won the last of his 14 England rugby caps in 1978–79.

Hignell continued to teach until he moved into journalism full time and he became a respected reporter, as well as working extensively on BBC Radio. In 1999, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and has since been an active fundraiser. His final commentary for BBC Radio Five Live was the 2007–08 Guinness Premiership Final at Twickenham, where Wasps beat Leicester Tigers 26–16. Retiring Wasps captain Lawrence Dallaglio dedicated the victory to Hignell. Later in 2008 he provided weekly rugby podcasts on the This is Bristol website.

Alastair Hignell became Patron of Multiple Sclerosis UK (MS UK) (formally Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre) in 2002 and has since been active in raising funds for the charity. Alastair moved to Brighton after living in Stroud for four years.

Hignell won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award in 2008 for his work in spreading awareness of multiple sclerosis. Hignell was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2009 Birthday Honours. He won the 'Best Rugby Book' category in the 2012 British Sports Book Awards for the book Higgy.