Alastair James Hignell (born 4 September 1955) is an English former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

international, first–class

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er, and broadcaster.

Education

Hignell was born at Ely, Cambridgeshire and educated at

Denstone College Denstone College is a mixed, independent, boarding and day school in Denstone, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England. It is a Woodard School, having been founded by Nathaniel Woodard, and so Christian traditions are practised as part of Colleg ...

, an independent boarding school for boys, in the village of

Denstone Denstone is a village and civil parish situated between the towns of Uttoxeter in East Staffordshire and Ashbourne in Derbyshire. It is located next to the River Churnet. The All Saints village church, vicarage and school were built by Sir Tho ...

in Staffordshire in Central England before going up to

Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Fitzwilliam College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , establish ...

. Hignell won Blues at Cambridge in both

and

, and when he graduated in 1977 he had already made several England appearances at full back. He was the second man to captain Cambridge at both cricket and rugby union.

Sporting career

Hignell made his England rugby union debut in 1975 in a brutal encounter with Australia in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

– eight days later he was playing for Gloucestershire against Middlesex at Bristol and five weeks later he made 60 in the

Varsity match A varsity match is a fixture (especially of a sporting event or team) between two university teams, particularly Oxford and Cambridge. The Scottish Varsity rugby match between the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh at Murrayf ...

. After leaving university, he continued playing rugby for

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

and England in the winter, while also working as a teacher (including at

Bristol Cathedral School Bristol Cathedral Choir School is a mixed gender non-selective musical Secondary Academy, located in the Cabot area of Bristol, England. Until 2008 it was known as Bristol Cathedral School. It is situated next to Bristol Cathedral, in the cent ...

and

Sherborne School (God and My Right) , established = 705 by Aldhelm, re-founded by King Edward VI 1550 , closed = , type = Public school Independent, boarding school , religion = Church of England , president = , chair_label = Chairman of the governors ...

), and cricket for

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

in the summer. As a right-handed batsman, he scored solidly rather than spectacularly, passing 1,000 runs in a season three times, including his final season in 1983, before his retirement. He won the last of his 14 England rugby caps in 1978–79.

Journalism

Hignell continued to teach until he moved into journalism full-time and he became a respected reporter, as well as working extensively on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

. In 1999, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and has since been an active fundraiser. His final commentary for

BBC Radio Five Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcas ...

was the 2007–08 Guinness Premiership Final at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

, where

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. ...

beat Leicester Tigers 26–16. Retiring Wasps captain

Lawrence Dallaglio Lorenzo Bruno Nero Dallaglio (born 10 August 1972), known as Lawrence Dallaglio, is an English retired rugby union player, former captain of England, and 2016 inductee of the World Rugby Hall of Fame. He played as a flanker or number eight ...

dedicated the victory to Hignell. Later in 2008 he provided weekly rugby podcasts on the This is Bristol website.

Charity work

Alastair Hignell became Patron of Multiple Sclerosis UK (MS-UK) (formally Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre) in 2002 and has since been active in raising funds for the charity. In 2008, inspired by Alastair's heroic achievements on and off the pitch, Higgy's Heroes, a fundraising body linked to MS-UK was created. Initially a one-off idea by a group of ex-teammates and opponents who decided to run the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...

in tribute to Hignell, the name and the idea continued beyond this one event. Since then there have been a number of Higgy's Heroes fundraising events largely based on physical achievements or sports activities. These include participants at the

and a regular large turn out in Alastair's home town for the yearly

Stroud Half Marathon The Stroud Half Marathon is an annual road running event held in Stroud, United Kingdom. Past winners The men's race has been won three times by Paul Cuskin and Stuart Hall (athlete), Stuart Hall,. The women's race has been won five times by Br ...

. Alastair moved to Brighton after living in Stroud for four years.

Honours

Hignell won the

BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given “for outstanding achievement in the face of adversity”, and BB ...

in 2008 for his work in spreading awareness of multiple sclerosis. Hignell was appointed Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the 2009 Birthday Honours. He won the 'Best Rugby Book' category in the 2012 British Sports Book Awards for the book ''Higgy''.

References

External links

*
Alastair Hignell
*

Bristol University
Higgy's Heroes
(Archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hignell, Alastair 1955 births Living people People educated at Denstone College Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Cambridge University cricketers Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players English cricketers English rugby union players England international rugby union players Bristol Bears players Rugby union fullbacks Gloucestershire cricketers Sports commentators British broadcasters Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British Universities cricketers Rugby union players from Cambridgeshire