Much-loved cricket commentator, 59 year old Jonathan ‘Aggers’ Agnew, has good reason to be grateful for the immune boosting properties of nature’s stickiest wicket, Manuka Doctor Honey.
The velvet voice of cricket, Aggers can make a run-out sound like a sonnet and a boundary the work of a bard. And when a batsman makes the perfect connection between willow and leather, there are few people who can relay that sense of excitement and respect to a listening audience quite like Aggers.
Little wonder then that he takes every precaution to protect his immune system in a bid to ensure his voice remains intact.
Whether he’s at South London’s Kensington Oval or its West Indies namesake, Aggers swears by a teaspoon of Manuka Doctor Honey every single day.
“I first discovered Manuka Honey when I was covering the Rio Olympics,” recalls Agnew.
“On the second day there, I remember getting on the bus and having a horrible tickle in my throat and a bit of a sniffle. When I mentioned it to my colleagues, one of them very kindly gave me two Manuka Honey sachets.”
“I remember her telling me: ‘take one now, one tonight, and it’ll be gone in the morning!’ That’s exactly what I did and that’s exactly what happened.”
“That was my first experience of Manuka Honey and, since I started using it, I haven’t had a cold in over 2 years,” says Agnew.
Then in the summer of 2016, Jonathan’s wife, Emma, was diagnosed with a serious illness which really rocked their world.
“It was such a worrying time. I mean, we were told things about healthcare, cleanliness, colds...because, of course, the treatment for Emma’s illness meant her resistance to any kind of infection was so low.”
“She needed special therapy which started in the August and was set to continue through the winter months, so I was really paranoid about colds. Every day I made sure she had a healthy teaspoon of Manuka Doctor Honey. I did the same, and we didn’t have any coughs, colds or throats or anything.”
“Now, don’t get me wrong...I’m not saying it’s a miracle cure-all” says Jonathan.
“All I know is it works for me and it has done ever since.”
In February 2018, Emma was relieved to be given the all-clear, yet it hasn’t stopped the Agnews from continuing to enjoy the immune boosting properties of natural New Zealand Manuka Doctor Honey.
“What I’d say to anyone who is thinking of trying Manuka Honey is ‘give it a go!’ It’s very healthy, it’s natural, there’s a science behind it as well. And there is a terrific range. It starts at 30mgo and goes all the way up to something like 840mgo.”
For me though, I do really believe in it. In my experience, this works.