Ashton Charles Agar, commonly known as Larry to his teammates, is an Australian cricketer who was born on October 14, 1993 in Melbourne, Victoria.

Agar plays domestically for Western Australia and the Perth Scorchers. A left-handed spin bowler, he made two friendly appearances for the Australian national team during the 2013 Ashes series.

Early & Personal Life

Agar was born in Melbourne to a Sri Lankan mother and Australian father and has two younger brothers, Will and Wes. He attended De La Salle College in Melbourne, where he graduated in 2011.

Agar is of Sri Lankan background and has all the physical attributes needed to indicate his left arm spin will succeed. He impressed everyone on his superb debut for WA against New South Wales at the Blacktown Oval. An intelligent and prudent young cricketer, Agar also aspires to a career in law.

Domestic & T20 Franchise Career

He represented Victoria at both U17 and U19 levels. After fine form at the 2010/11 National Under-17 Championships, where he won 16 wickets with an average of 11.75 bowling with left arm orthodox twist, he was selected to represent Australia Under-19s for a series against Australia Under-19s to play West Indies U19s in United Arab Emirates. Agar made his debut aged 17 and went on to play one Under-19 Test and ten Under-19 One Day International (ODI) games for Australia. At the 2012 U19 World Cup, he was called up as Australia's second spinner behind Ashton Turner, but did not play a match at the tournament.

Agar made his Sheffield Shield debut in January 2013. The following month he was called up for the 2012–13 Australian tour of India where he played a single tour match. Agar toured England and Ireland with Australia A in mid-2013 and performed well in English conditions. Although not initially selected to the Touring squad, he made his Test debut for Australia in the first Test of the Ashes series in 2013. With a score of 117/9, Agar hit 98 runs and beat 11th in Australia's first innings. Agar broke several Test records on debut, including the highest score by a No. 11 batsman and the highest partnership for the tenth wicket (with Phillip Hughes – since busted). However, after poor bowling, he was dropped from the team after the second Test of the series.

In February 2013, Agar was late included in Australia's 2012–13 tour of India squad and played a single match on the tour, winning 3/107 against India A. He finished the Sheffield Shield season with 19 wickets from five matches, including a five-wicket draw, 5/65, taken against South Australia in early March.

In the same match, Agar was again involved in a substantial last-wicket partnership with Michael Hogan, with the pair adding 68 to allow Western Australia to win by one wicket. In his previous game against Tasmania he had scored 71 goals in the fourth innings of 8/351 in Western Australia and helped the team win by two wickets and he finished the season third in batting averages on 229 runs on a 32.71 average the Team.

Agar made his Twenty20 debut for the Perth Scorchers in the 2013 Champions League Twenty20 in India.[26] Used primarily as the opening batsman at the tournament, he bowled just 4.2 overs in three matches (of which he conceded 51 runs without taking a wicket).

Against the Mumbai Indians, he scored 35 balls from 40, which was his highest score in the 20s in March 2015. Agar only played a single game during the 2013–14 Big Bash League season, but the following season featured in eight of the Scorchers' ten games. He took eight wickets with an average of 24.25, finishing thirteenth in the contest and fourth for the Scorchers, behind Jason Behrendorff, Yasir Arafat and Andrew Tye.

Only two spinners - Cameron Boyce (10) and Adam Zampa (9) - won more wickets at the tournament. When the 2014–15 Sheffield Shield season resumed after the conclusion of the Big Bash League, Agar was man of the match against South Australia, scoring his opening ten-wicket move (5/133 and 5/81) and also 64 in Western scored Australia's first innings.[30] In the next match against New South Wales, he took 4/22 in the second innings and helped roll out New South Wales for 97.

International Career

Agar was selected to tour England, Scotland and Ireland with Australia A in June 2013. Along with Fawad Ahmed, he was widely believed to be in contention for one final position in Australia's squad for the 2013 Ashes series in England. A spot in the roster for a second spinner behind Nathan Lyon had been kept open to be matched to either spinner based on pre-Tour form.

Following his good form for Australia A, Agar was called up to make his Test debut in the first Test of the series (played at Trent Bridge, Nottingham), replacing Lyon in the side from the previous tour. At the age of 19 years and 269 days, he became the 12th youngest Australian Test player, as well as the youngest Australian since Archie Jackson (during the 1928–29 series) to make his Test debut in the Ashes.

On debut, he hit 98 carries from 101 balls, batted 11th in Australia's first innings and broke several Test records, including becoming the first player to ever score half a century as a number 11 batsman on debut, the highest score by a number 11 batsman and with Phillip Hughes highest partnership (163 runs) for the tenth wicket.

In 2015, Agar was not granted a spot on The Ashes roster, instead becoming a permanent fixture in the List A squad. He would make his limited-overs debut following the Ashes series.

He made his One Day International debut against England on 8 September 2015. He made his Twenty20 International debut for Australia against South Africa on 6 March 2016.

In 2017, Agar was recalled to the Australia Test team for their tour of Bangladesh, winning a total of 5 wickets in the first Test match and scoring an impressive 41 goals, not falling out in Australia's first innings. Despite his efforts, Australia lost to Bangladesh for the first time in Test cricket.

On 21 February 2020, in the first T20I game against South Africa, Agar scored a hat trick in a T20I game as the second bowler for Australia and 13th overall. He finished the match with counts of 5/24 from his four overs, his first five-wicket draw in a T20I match.

In April 2020, Cricket Australia awarded Agar a central contract ahead of the 2020–21 season. On 16 July 2020, Agar was called up to a 26-man provisional squad of players to begin training ahead of a potential tour to England following the COVID-19 pandemic. On 14 August 2020, Cricket Australia confirmed the matches would go ahead, with Agar included in the tour.

On 3 March 2021 during the series against New Zealand, Agar scored best numbers for a bowler for Australia and 5th best overall in T20Is with 6/30 from his four overs. In August 2021, Agar was named to Australia's squad for the 2021 ICC T20 Men's World Championship.

Rise to Glory

By the age of 19 he had a place in Western Australia squads, Perth Scorchers and also the national team after being sensationally promoted to a bigger role in the Australia squad from a substitute in the 2013 Tour of India.

Agar's rise through the ranks continued when he was included in the starting XI for the first Ashes Test at Trent Bridge in 2013.

Low Points

While Agar was living a dream after his first test, it turned out to be different. He was dropped after just one more test.

Agar is still a work in progress but his development as a cricketer, particularly with the ball, will please Australia as he slowly begins to cement his place in the team over time.

His performances in the BBL have proven that he is also a strong weapon with the white ball.