Andrew Keith Hignell (born 12 October 1959 in

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

) is a cricket historian and scorer. Hignell has a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Geography from

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

. He has been the Glamorgan 1st XI scorer since 1982. For over 25 years he combined a career as a teacher at independent schools with working on radio commentaries for BBC Radio Wales on the home and away matches of Glamorgan. In 2004 he left full-time teaching at

Wells Cathedral School Wells Cathedral School is an independent co-educational boarding and day school for 2–18 year olds located in Wells, Somerset, Wells, Somerset, England, which provides an all-round education alongside specialist music and chorister training. T ...

to become the Heritage and Education Co-Ordinator at Glamorgan Cricket, where he manages the Museum of Welsh Cricket at

Sophia Gardens Sophia Gardens ( ; ) is a public park in Riverside, Cardiff, Wales, on the west bank of the River Taff. International test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestig ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. Hignell has written numerous books on cricket. In ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'', Alan Ross said Hignell's 1995 biography of Glamorgan's combative post-war captain Wilf Wooller, which was based on extensive interviews, revealed a "surprising warmth" in its subject. ''Wisden's'' editor Graeme Wright, reviewing Hignell's 2001 biography of

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...

, praised Hignell as "a thorough researcher and a sound writer", adding that Hignell gets Turnbull "just right". Reviewing Hignell's 2002 book ''Rain Stops Play'', '' Wisden Cricket Monthly'' said, "Hignell's excellent volume should be required reading in both dressing-room and press box", and added that it was "a history of cricket with a strong geographical bias". The Welsh historian John Idris Jones, writing in ''

Planet A planet is a large, Hydrostatic equilibrium, rounded Astronomical object, astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. The Solar System has eight planets b ...

'', said of Hignell's ''Cricket in Wales'' (2008), "As a chronicle of cricket in Wales, it is not likely to be surpassed", while Duncan Stone, reviewing ''Cricket in Wales'' in the journal ''Sport in History'', said "Hignell's obviously exhaustive research informs, illuminates and entertains". Hignell was awarded The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians' 1988 Statistician of the Year award "for his work on the history and statistics of Glamorgan".

Books

* ''Cricket Grounds of Glamorgan'' (1986) * ''The History of

Glamorgan County Cricket Club Glamorgan County Cricket Club () is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Gla ...

'' (1988) * ''A "Favourit" Game: Cricket in South Wales before 1914'' (1992) * '' J.C. Clay: His Record Innings-by-Innings'' (1992) * ''A Who's Who of Glamorgan County Cricket Club 1888–1991'' (1992) * ''Glamorgan County Cricket Club: First-Class Records 1921-1993'' (1994) * ''The Skipper: A Biography of Wilf Wooller'' (1995) * ''Glamorgan County Cricket Club: The Second Selection'' (1998) * ''100 Greats: Glamorgan County Cricket Club'' (2000) * '' Turnbull: A Welsh Sporting Hero'' (2001) * ''Classics: Glamorgan County Cricket Club'' (2001) * ''Rain Stops Play: Cricketing Climates'' (2002) * ''100 Greats: Gloucestershire County Cricket Club'' (2002, with Adrian Thomas) * ''100 First-Class Umpires'' (2003) * ''Summer of '64: A Season in English Cricket'' (2005) * ''Getting it Right'' (2006; assisted with Barrie Meyer's autobiography) * ''Glamorgan Grounds: The Homes of Welsh Cricket'' (2002) * ''Glamorgan: The Glory Years 1993–2002'' (2003) * ''Gloucestershire CCC: 50 of the Finest Matches'' (2004) * ''Cardiff Sporting Greats'' (2007) * ''Cricket in Wales: An Illustrated History'' (2008)Review of ''Cricket in Wales'': Duncan Stone (2010), ''Sport in History'', * ''From Sophia to SWALEC: A History of Cricket in Cardiff'' (2009) * '' C.P. Lewis: The Champion Cricketer of South Wales'' (2009, with Bob Harragan) * ''The Australian Cricketers in Wales'' (2009)Review of ''The Australian Cricketers in Wales'': Steve Dube,
Welsh book reviews
, WalesOnline * ''Glamorgan CCC on this Day: History, Facts and Figures for Every Day of the Year'' (2011) * '' Jack Mercer: A Bowler of Magical Spells'' (2011) * ''The History of Blaina Cricket Club'' (2012, with Emma Peplow) * ''Glamorgan CCC Miscellany: Glamorgan Trivia, History, Facts and Stats'' (2014) * ''Changing Faces: Glamorgan CCC 1888–2012'' (2013) * ''"Lucky" Jim Pleass: The Memoirs of Glamorgan's 1948 County Championship Winner'' (2014) * ''Front Foot to Front Line: Welsh Cricket and the Great War'' (2017) * ''Always Amongst Friends: The Cardiff and County Club 1866-2016'' (2017) * ''The Daffodil Blooms: The Glorious Rise of Glamorgan CCC to County Champions in 1948'' (2018, with Brian Halford) * ''Glamorgan Cricketers 1889–1920'' (2019) * ''Glamorgan Cricketers 1921–1948'' (2020) * ''A Tall Story: The Life of Nigel Plews'' (2020) * ''Cricketscapes: The Changing Geography of Cricket in England and Wales'' (2020) * ''Fly at a Higher Game: The Story of TAL Whittington and the Elevation of Glamorgan CCC into the County Championship'' (2021) * ''Glamorgan Cricketers 1949–1979'' (2023) * ''Glamorgan Cricketers 1980–1997'' (2023)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hignell, Andrew 1959 births Living people Cricket writers People from Gloucester Schoolteachers from Gloucestershire English cricket commentators Cricket scorers Welsh curators