Editing Jonathan Agnew (section)

===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.<ref>{{cite news |date=6 April 1960 |title=Births |newspaper=[[The Times]] |location=London |number=54739 |page=1}}</ref><ref name="Cricinfo">{{cite web| url = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/8501.html| title = Jonathan Agnew| publisher = ESPN| work = [[ESPNcricinfo]]| access-date = 3 August 2011| archive-date = 23 December 2011| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111223092334/http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/8501.html| url-status = live}}</ref> 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|Hampton Hall]], [[Worthen]], [[Shropshire]]".<ref>{{cite news| title = Forthcoming marriages | newspaper = [[The Times]] |issue = 53806 | page = 12 | location = London | date = 3 April 1957}}</ref> The Agnews had a second son in June 1962 and were recorded as living at "[[Bainton, Cambridgeshire|Bainton]] near [[Stamford, Lincolnshire|Stamford]], Lincs"; in April 1966, a daughter, Felicity, was born and was announced as "a sister for Jonathan and Christopher".<ref>{{cite news| title = Births | newspaper = [[The Times]] |issue = 55423 | page = 1 | location = London | date = 21 June 1962 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title = Births | newspaper = [[The Times]] |issue = 56607 | page = 1 | location = London | date = 16 April 1966 }}</ref> Agnew's paternal grandmother, Lady Mona Agnew, died aged 110 years and 170 days in 2010 and was on the [[List of British supercentenarians|list of the 100 longest-lived British people ever]].<ref>{{Cite news | url = http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/117930/agnew | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120605183441/http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/117930/agnew | url-status = dead | archive-date = 5 June 2012 |  work = [[The Daily Telegraph]] | location= London | title = Death Announcements | access-date =20 December 2011}}</ref>

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]]'':

<blockquote>"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."<ref name=page7>Agnew. ''Thanks, Johnners''. p. 7</ref></blockquote>

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.<ref>Agnew. ''Thanks, Johnners''. p. 8</ref> Agnew's father, an amateur cricketer, taught him the rudiments of the sport, including an [[offspin]] action, as he wanted his son to develop into a bowler like him.<ref name=page7/> Another family connection to cricket was his first cousin, [[Mary Duggan]], who was a women's Test player for [[England women's cricket team|England]] from 1948 to 1963.<ref name="Who">{{Cite book | editor1-first= Iain | editor1-last= Sproat | title = The Cricketers' Who's Who | date= 4 April 1991 | edition = 1991 | publisher = Collins Willow | isbn = 0-00-218396-X | page = 11}}</ref>

From the age of eight, Agnew [[boarding school|boarded]] at [[Taverham Hall School]] near [[Norwich]].<ref>Agnew. ''Thanks, Johnners''. p. 10</ref> His first cricket coach was Eileen Ryder and, according to Agnew, after "a couple of years"<ref name=page11/> a professional arrived at the school: [[Ken Taylor (cricketer, born 1935)|Ken Taylor]], a former batsman for [[Yorkshire County Cricket Club|Yorkshire]] who had played three Tests for [[England cricket team|England]] in the late 1950s and early 1960s.<ref name=page11>Agnew. ''Thanks, Johnners''. p. 11</ref> In 1971, aged 11, Agnew attended the [[1971_Gillette_Cup#Final|Gillete Cup Final]], and was inspired by [[Peter Lever]], a fast bowler: "I saw a fast bowler running in from the Nursery End. I'd never seen anything like it. I turned to my dad and said: "That's who I want to be." It was Peter Lever. There was something about the way he bowled. The energy, the run-up. It lit a spark under me and, from that moment on, I was Peter Lever. My dad wanted me to be an off-spinner, like him, but there was no chance after I'd seen Peter bowl. I copied his action and he was everywhere in my life as I grew up."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/articles/c8d4v5vzzjyo | title=Peter Lever: Former Lancashire and England bowler dies aged 84 | date=27 March 2025 }}</ref>

Agnew attended [[Uppingham School]] for his secondary education,<ref name="Cricinfo"/> and left in 1978 with nine [[O-levels]] and two [[A-levels]] in German and English.<ref name="Who"/> From the age of 16 he developed his skills as a right-arm [[Fast bowling|fast bowler]] out of school hours at [[Alf Gover]]'s cricket school whilst at [[Surrey County Cricket Club]].<ref name="COY">{{cite web | url = http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/154442.html | publisher = ESPN | work = [[Wisden Cricketers' Almanack]] | title = Cricketer of the Year, 1988 : Jonathan Agnew | access-date = 3 August 2011 | archive-date = 15 June 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120615232913/http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/154442.html | url-status = live }}</ref> That summer, he saw fast bowler [[Michael Holding]] take 14 [[Wickets taken|wickets]] in the [[West Indian cricket team in England in 1976#Fifth Test|1976 Oval Test match]], a performance of pace bowling referred to as "devastating" by cricket writer [[Norman Preston]],<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/152088.html| publisher = [[ESPNcricinfo]]| access-date = 23 November 2011| title = England v West Indies| first = Norman| last = Preston| archive-date = 13 February 2012| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120213060902/http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/152088.html| url-status = live}}</ref> which made a lasting impression on Agnew.<ref>{{Cite book| url = https://archive.org/details/pommiesenglandcr0000buck| url-access = registration| quote = jonathan agnew.| title = Pommies: England Cricket Through an Australian Lens|first=William|last=Buckland|page=[https://archive.org/details/pommiesenglandcr0000buck/page/273 273]|isbn=978-1-906510-32-9| publisher=Matador| date = 14 April 2008}}</ref> More than 30 years later he wrote of his bowling during his schooldays:

<blockquote>"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."<ref name=page35>Agnew. ''Thanks, Johnners''. p. 35</ref></blockquote>

Having played for Surrey under-19s the previous year,<ref name=liew>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/oct/23/jonathan-liew-meets-jonathan-agnew |title='So yeah, I wrote this piece …' Jonathan Liew meets Jonathan Agnew |last=Liew |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Liew |date=23 October 2022 |website=[[theguardian.com]]|access-date=23 October 2022}}</ref> he began playing for Surrey's [[Second XI Championship|second XI]] in 1977,<ref>{{cite web | url =https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/1/1759/Second_Eleven_Championship_Matches.html | publisher =CricketArchive | access-date =3 August 2011 | title =Second Eleven Championship Matches played by Jonathan Agnew | archive-date =8 November 2012 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20121108201610/http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/1/1759/Second_Eleven_Championship_Matches.html | url-status =live }}</ref> but Surrey made no move to sign him as a player. At a home match against [[Hampshire County Cricket Club|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".<ref name=liew /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/jul/26/lonsdale-skinner-most-racism-committee-room-cricket-interview |title=Lonsdale Skinner:'Most of the racism came from the committee room'|last=Ronay |first=Barney |author-link=Barney Ronay|date=26 July 2020|website=[[theguardian.com]]|access-date=23 October 2022}}</ref> [[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,<ref name="Cricinfo"/> and signed him while he was still a schoolboy in time for the [[1978 English cricket season|1978 season]].<ref name=page35/>