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

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

international, first–class

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er, and broadcaster.

Education

Hignell was born at Ely, Cambridgeshire and educated at Denstone College, an independent boarding school for boys, in the village of Denstone in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

in Central England before going up to Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. Hignell won

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

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 List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

– eight days later he was playing for Gloucestershire against Middlesex at Bristol and five weeks later he made 60 in the Varsity match. After leaving university, he continued playing rugby for

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

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

Sherborne School Sherborne School is a full-boarding school for boys aged 13 to 18 located beside Sherborne Abbey in the Dorset town of Sherborne. The school has been in continuous operation on the same site for over 1,300 years. It was founded in 705 AD by Ald ...

), and cricket for

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

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 (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

. In 1999, he was diagnosed with

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

and has since been an active fundraiser. His final commentary for BBC Radio Five Live was the 2007–08 Guinness Premiership Final at

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

, 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. Th ...

beat Leicester Tigers 26–16. Retiring Wasps captain Lawrence Dallaglio 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 (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...

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

Honours

Hignell won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award 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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two 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

* * *
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 English broadcasters Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British Universities cricketers Rugby union players from Ely, Cambridgeshire Gloucestershire County RFU players 20th-century English sportsmen