Jonathan Agnew

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Jonathan Agnew : biography

4 April 1960 –

Playing career

Background and early years

Agnew was born on 4 April 1960 at West Park Hospital in Macclesfield, Cheshire, to Philip and Margaret Agnew. 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". 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". Agnew’s paternal grandmother, Lady Mona Agnew, died aged 110 years and 170 days in 2010 and is on the list of the 100 longest-lived British people ever.

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."Agnew. Thanks, Johnners. p. 7

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.Agnew. Thanks, Johnners. p. 8 Agnew’s father, an amateur cricketer, taught him the rudiments of the sport, including an offspin bowling action, as he wanted his son to develop into a bowler like him. Another family connection to cricket was his first cousin, Mary Duggan, who was a women’s Test player for England from 1948 to 1963.

From the age of eight, Agnew boarded at Taverham Hall School near Norwich.Agnew. Thanks, Johnners. p. 10 His first cricket coach was Eileen Ryder but, according to Agnew, after "a couple of years" 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.Agnew. Thanks, Johnners. p. 11

Agnew attended Uppingham School for his secondary education, and left in 1978 with nine O levels and two A levels in German and English. From the age of 16 he developed his skills as a right-arm fast bowler out of school hours at Alf Gover’s cricket school at Surrey. That summer, he saw fast bowler Michael Holding take 14 wickets in the 1976 Oval Test match, a performance of pace bowling referred to as "devastating" by cricket writer Norman Preston, which made a lasting impression on Agnew. More than 30 years later he wrote of his bowling during his schooldays:

"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."Agnew. Thanks, Johnners. p. 35

He began playing for Surrey County Cricket Club’s second XI in 1977, but Surrey made no move to sign him as a player. 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, and signed him while he was still a schoolboy in time for the 1978 season.

County cricket

On his first-class debut against Lancashire in August 1978, the 18-year-old Agnew bowled to England international David Lloyd, an opening batsman with nine Test caps. Reported in Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, Lloyd "was halfway through a forward defensive push when his off stump was despatched halfway towards the Leicestershire wicket-keeper." Agnew took one wicket in each innings of the match, and did not bat; Leicestershire won by an innings.