Cricket broadcaster Jonathan Agnew has been reprimanded by the BBC for expletive-laden messages he sent to an Independent journalist.
Agnew, a mainstay of Radio 5 Live’s test match coverage, has been censured by the station’s bosses over his language after he took issue with an article written by Jonathan Liew, The Independent’s chief sports writer.
The former English fast bowler repeatedly called Liew a “c***” in a number of direct messages over Twitter last week.
The BBC acted after being made aware of the messages. Agnew is understood to have been reminded of the “clear standards of behaviour” expected of the corporation’s staff.
The 59-year-old has apologised to Liew over the language.
Agnew had taken issue with a a column in April in which Liew questioned the coverage of England’s selection of Jofra Archer, a Barbados-born Sussex bowler who became eligible to play for the national team in March following changes to residency rules.
The piece quoted Agnew as describing the cricketer’s inclusion in the squad as “a huge call” because “morale and camaraderie is a big part in team performance”.
Liew wrote: “[This] feels instinctively unarguable – who doesn’t love morale and camaraderie, after all? - until you begin to ask why Archer is deemed such a grave threat to it. And why no other player, foreign-born or not, is ever subjected to the same standard.”
He added: “There’s an incendiary word you could posit to describe all this, but I’m not going to use it.”
In response, Agnew demanded that Liew apologise, before going on to send him the abusive direct messages.
“I’m going no further on the advice of people who know you and think you are a c***. I know you are. Think on ... C***" he wrote.
A BBC spokesperson said: “We don’t comment on individual staff matters but we take this very seriously and have clear standards of behaviour we expect all personnel to abide by.”
The corporation’s editorial guidelines state employees should not post “derogatory or offensive comments” on social media or “engage in activities on the internet which might bring the BBC into disrepute”.
