Jonathan Agnew is everyone’s new hero after pranking Geoffrey Boycott on Test Match Special

Geoffrey Boycott has enjoyed as good a punditry career as he did a cricketing one, but he met his match when Test Match Special presenter Jonathan Agnew had him reeling after a fake press release.

Boycott was a famously stubborn batsman, and one of England’s greats, with 8,114 Test runs, an average of 47.72 at Test level and 22 Test centuries.

And this August marks the 40th anniversary of the Yorkshireman’s 100th first-class ton, a special moment for the 76-year-old who scored it at his home ground, Headingley – in fact, Boycott’s even got an evening planned.

As you can see it’s going to be quite the occasion, and it would be a shame if something came along to spoil it.

Well, thankfully nothing has done, but Geoffrey wasn’t to know that when TMS presenter Agnew pranked him with some fake news.

Along with TMS stats man Andrew Samson, Agnew kept his face straight for long enough to convince Boycott that his magnificent century at Headingley in 1977 might actually only have been his 99th.

The pair pretended that the ICC were going to downgrade statistics from a series between England and the Rest Of The World in 1970, in which Boycott had scored a hundred – the Yorkshireman was clearly not impressed.

However, after several minutes Agnew revealed all to his colleague, who with a mixture of relief and annoyance asked: “Is that right? You muppet, it’s never… is that a wind up? You muppet, Agnew! I’ll get you for that!”

Thankfully Boycott took it all in good humour – even he has to admit that’s a superb wind-up.

Agnew played just three Tests for England compared to Boycott’s 108, but in bowling terms he had the former Yorkshire batsman plum LBW.

That’s out, Geoffrey.