Mr Cricket swears by nature’s stickiest wicket
WHEN covering at a world-class event for the BBC, a sore throat and cold are the last things a broadcaster needs.
But that was the scenario facing much-loved cricket commentator Jonathan ‘Aggers’ Agnew (pictured left) at the Rio Olympics. The mellifluous voice of cricket, Aggers, 59, can make a run-out sound like a sonnet and a boundary the work of a bard. Now in his 43rd season in the professional game and 28th in his ‘dream job’ as cricket correspondent on BBC Radio’s Test Match Special, he says: ‘It has been my life from the age of 16’. So when a tell-tale ‘horrible’ tickle in his throat threatened to turn Mr Cricket’s velvety delivery into a croak, Aggers was more than ready to give nature’s stickiest wicket a try. ‘After I announced to the bus I had a cold coming on, a colleague pulled a couple of cartons of Manuka honey from her bag and told me: “Try this”. ‘She said have one now, the other tonight and it will be gone tomorrow. So I snapped one open, and it actually tasted really nice. ‘I took the second one that night and the tickle was gone the next day.’ He adds: ‘Now I’m not going to say it’s a miracle cure-all. All I know is it works for me and has done ever since. Since I started using it, I haven’t had a cold in more than two years.’ Whether he’s at London’s Kensington Oval or its West Indies namesake, Aggers swears by a teaspoon of Manuka honey every single day. This routine took on a new significance when his wife Emma was diagnosed with a serious illness that really rocked their world. ‘Treatment meant her resistance to infection was low, so I was really paranoid about colds. ‘Every day we both had a teaspoon of Manuka honey and we didn’t have any coughs, colds or throats, or anything.’ Emma was given the all-clear last year, but this hasn’t stopped the Agnews from continuing to enjoy the immune-boosting properties of New Zealand Manuka honey. ‘To anyone thinking of trying Manuka honey, I’d say give it a go! It’s natural, healthy, and there’s a science behind it as well. In my experience, this works. And for a broadcaster like me to avoid colds and throats is just essential.’