The toast of Aussie cricket described his match-saving Ashes innings of 98 today as “probably the best day of my life so far”.
When asked on Sky Sports how Test cricket compares to playing club cricket for Henley just weeks ago, he said: “It’s a bit of a difference but I’ll take it.”
Skipper of his Henley team Bjorn Mordt told BBC’s Test Match Special that Agar was a “great kid” and a “a lovely bloke”, who they nicknamed Scotty for his resemblance to US Open golf winner Adam Scott.
“He actually batted five for us, he batted seven for Western Australia so we gave him a promotion,” Mordt said. “I was quite surprised to see him down at number 11 – he’s not your normal bunny.
“He’s also probably the best spinner I’ve seen, he’s got great control, he’s got a slider and a good good arm ball, he took a hat-trick for us with three arm balls. He just doesn’t seem to get phased, pressure never seems to build on him.”
Agar couldn’t say the same for his mum though, who jumped on a plane with his dad and brothers as soon as they were secretly told the news on Monday. “I’m survived she didn’t have a heart attack,” Agar said when asked how she’d feel about his exploits.
“[It was] good to get the team out of a bit of a sticky situation,” he added.
In scoring 98, Agar broke the record of West Indian Tino Best, and the proper number 11 paid tribute on Twitter.
Morning twitter just woke up and saw my record is in deep trouble #ashes well played AGAR #11 ….go on lad get a big one .@BumbleCricket
— Tino95 (@tinobest) July 11, 2013
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p>Must say we as number 11 batters in Agar and myself love this English bowling attack <a href=”https://twitter.com/search?q=%23SweetLikeSugarCane&src=hash”>#SweetLikeSugarCane</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/search?q=%23agar&src=hash”>#agar</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Ashes&src=hash”>#Ashes</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/search?q=%23tinobest&src=hash”>#tinobest</a></p>— Tino95 (@tinobest) <a href=”https://twitter.com/tinobest/statuses/355327484012662785″>July 11, 2013</a></blockquote><script async src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
After surviving a close shout for a stumping, England may be calling the youngster Agar the Horrible, but Aussie Hollywood champ Hugh Jackman was “gripped”.
Ashton Agar. A day you or any cricket fan will never forget!!!!! What a test match!! Gripped!
— Hugh Jackman (@RealHughJackman) July 11, 2013
Injured Aussie quick Pat Cummins was loving it too.
He keeps smashing Agar Bombs!! #Ashtag #Jaeger #Agarmeister @FakeHauritz
— Pat Cummins (@93Cummins) July 11, 2013
But no one had a better view than the classy England spinner whose catch stopped Agar two short of a tonne.
Hats off to Agar today for a great knock on debut. What a test match this is turning out to be
— Graeme Swann (@Swannyg66) July 11, 2013
Image via Getty