THE last time BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew was in York with one of his "An Evening With" shows, Geoffrey Boycott surprised Aggers as much as the Barbican crowd with his sudden dynamite revelation that on reflection he wished he had never been appointed Yorkshire captain.

Agnew has been doing such evenings on the road since the 2013 Ashes home series, not only with Sir Geoffrey, but also with Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar and England spinner turned radio analyst Graeme Swann.

Now he has a new cricketing cohort by his side in England and Middlesex left-arm spin bowler Phil 'Tuffers' Tufnell: once the bad boy of English cricket in the 1990s, but these days Aggers' colleague on BBC radio's Test Match Special.

"Ten years ago, people thought 'Tuffers is a maverick who doesn't work hard', but actually he does work hard; he looks good on TV; he's funny; he's quick witted; and you've got to do your research like ho does to be on the ball as a captain on A Question Of Sport," says Agnew, who will be joined by Tufnell at the Grand Opera House in York on Friday.

Tufnell was something of a folk hero in his cricketing days, rarely seen away from the field without a beer and a fag on the go, and his relaxed air has since fitted him like a glove on his reality TV appearances on I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here and Strictly Come Dancing.

"Aggers & Tuffers is a different show from the Geoffrey ones where Geoffrey has his forthright opinions and can go on a bit, and I'm the one that has to keep him in check!" says Agnew. What's more, Boycott's name comes first in the show title, emphasising his tendency to dominate the strike, although Agnew has a fast bowler's way of pricking his balloon.

York Press:

Phil Tufnell and Jonathan Agnew on Test Match Special duty for the BBC

By comparison, the interplay in Aggers & Tuffers is more even. "Tuffers is a great storyteller, though he's nervous before he goes on stage, but then it's like Christmas tree lights being switched on!" says Agnew.

"You're a bit worried wondering where he might go next, so you have to keep it in some sort of order, as you want the audience to feel we've touched on most areas of his life, as with Geoffrey. And with Tuffers, his batting was hysterical, his fielding was hysterical, and so happily we have some footage to back that up, which everyone enjoys."

Agnew's An Evening With shows also benefit from the ever-rolling programme of international cricket being ripe for comment, the latest debating poin being Alistair Cook's resignation yesterday from the captaincy and the potential accession of Yorkshireman Joe Root.

"Is it too early for Joe?" ponders Agnew. "I think it is; it would be nice for him to have another year without the burden; he has a new baby too...but he's taken everything in his stride on the cricket field so far."

An Evening With Aggers & Tuffers, on tour at Hull City Hall tomorrow and Grand Opera House, York, Friday, 7.30pm. Box office: Hull, 01482 300306 or hcandl.co.uk/hullcityhall; York, 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york