‘Aggers and Tuffers’ bring tour to town

TWO of the biggest names in English cricket will be looking to hit a Swindon crowd for six in February after announcing an evening innings at the Wyvern Theatre.

Aggers and Tuffers, better known as ex-England internationals Jonathan Agnew and Phil Tufnell, have been booked in for February 17 at the town centre auditorium.

The television personalities will bring their own brand of wit and anecdotes to the town and open the stage up to the floor for questions from the audience.

Agnew, whose BBC cricket commentaries have perhaps eclipsed his performances as a player, has made a habit of hosting evening events, with partnerships alongside Geoffrey Boycott and Graeme Swann in recent months.

Tufnell, sometimes known as The Cat, has gone on to overwhelming television success, with appearances on A Question of Sport and victory in 2003’s I’m a Celebrity, Get me out of Here.

Derek Aldridge, theatre director at the Wyvern, said: “I’m a cricket fan myself, and these names don’t come much bigger in the cricketing world.

“Tuffers has a very wide audience. He is incredibly well-known to a great number of people, not just in cricket, but beyond too, with Question of Sport, his win in the jungle and time on The One Show too.

“And Aggers, of course, is the voice of cricket.”

The performance, which starts at 7.30pm, will take the form of a presentation for the first hour from the pair, as they share stories.

In the second hour, the audience will be allowed to probe with their own questions, something which Tuffers prefers, according to his agent.

“They will share a lot of anecdotes from their globetrotting to watch cricket as players and pundits,” said Derek.

“In the second half of the session they will then open up the floor for people to ask their own questions.

“I expect they will discuss what’s going on in the game at that time generally as well as looking forward to the summer tests and the World Twenty20.

“They’re two very good speakers and, as you can imagine, they bounce off one another very well.”

The tour, which will also visit Weston Super Mare and Bath, is produced by Simon Fielder, who was the one to actually approach the Wyvern with the opportunity.

“We were quite privileged they thought of us, really,” said Derek.

“Wiltshire doesn’t have a major county cricket team, it has a minor county team, but there are a lot of people who understand and enjoy the sport in this area.”

Tickets are on sale now from swindontheatres.co.uk with prices starting at £26.