the face. It was, Agnew recalls, merely a gentle delivery off two paces that flew off a wet patch; but it did not deter the headline writers. Such early publicity did him no favours, but when a bowler arrives who is young, fast and English, a quiet settling-in period to one of the more difficult apprenticeships in sport is often denied him." – Wisden Agnew's 1979 season was disrupted by injury. The Editor's Notes of the 1980 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack reported, under the heading "England's Promising Youngsters", that Agnew had strengthened himself over the winter by felling trees. Agnew's own account is that 1979–80 was "the worst winter of his life", although his recollection is that he spent it working as a lorry driver. He did, however, make his List A limited overs debut in 1979, playing just once, against the Sri Lanka touring team – his competitive List A debut followed in 1980, in the Benson & Hedges Cup against Scotland: he bowled just three overs (for five runs) and did not bat. Test cricket Agnew's career did not initially live up to his early promise. In his first six seasons as a first-class cricketer, his largest haul of wickets was 31 in 1980. The 1984 season was his breakthrough year: he played 23 first-class matches, taking 84 wickets at an average of 28.72. Playing in the warm-up game against Cambridge University, he achieved figures of 8–47 (taking 8 wickets while conceding 47 runs) from 20.4 overs and was included in the first team for the County Championship matches that followed. He carried that success forward into the County Championship, picking up wickets for Leicestershire including a ten wicket match haul against Surrey in June, and five wickets in an innings against Kent in the days leading up to the fifth Test against West Indies. The England selectors took note and, with the West Indies leading the series 4–0, Agnew and Richard Ellison were given debuts, in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to avoid the "blackwash". Wisden describes how in the first innings, Agnew's accuracy was affected by debutant nerves, but an improved display in the second innings resulted in figures of 2–51. Agnew describes how Ian Botham helped him secure both wickets, catching Gordon Greenidge in the slips, and passing on some advice on how to dismiss Viv Richards, Botham's great friend: "Botham said: 'Right. Don't pitch a single