The BBC’s cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew is the subject of a complaint made to the broadcaster about abusive messages he posted about a sports writer on Twitter.

Agnew, who had already been reprimanded by the BBC in May for a foul-mouthed rant at Jonathan Liew, this week sent messages referring to The Independent’s chief sports writer as “a racist”. The Times has seen screenshots of the posts, though Agnew deleted his account on Thursday.

Agnew, centre, said that deleting his Twitter account was not related to any complaint STU FORSTER/GETTY IMAGES

Liew complained to the BBC on Tuesday but said he had been unable to get any information from the broadcaster on what was happening to his complaint. The BBC declined to comment.

The initial fallout between the pair happened after Liew wrote a column which referenced Agnew and suggested that the