Alec Stewart

Alec James Stewart OBE (born 8 April 1963 in Merton Park, Greater London) is a retired English cricketer, a right-handed batsman-wicketkeeper and former captain of the England cricket team. He is the most capped English cricketer of all time in Test matches and 2nd most capped in One Day Internationals, having played in 133 Tests and 170 ODIs.

Career

The younger son of former English Test cricketer Micky Stewart, Stewart was educated at Tiffin School in Kingston upon Thames., Sunday Mirror, Steve Whiting, 24 May 1998 He made his début for Surrey in 1981, earning a reputation as an aggressive opening batsman and occasional wicketkeeper. He made his England début in the first Test of the 1989/90 tour of the West Indies, along with Nasser Hussain, who would eventually replace him as England captain.

At the start of his career, Stewart was a specialist opening batsman for England, with wicketkeeping duties being retained by Jack Russell, who was generally recognised as the superior gloveman and who batted down the order. However, Russell, the inferior batsman, would often be dropped to improve the balance of the side (i.e. to accommodate an extra bowler or batsman), in which case Stewart would don the gloves. After enduring years of selection and deselection, Russell retired from international cricket in 1998, leaving Stewart unrivalled as England's keeper-batsman until his own retirement in 2003.

His highest Test score, 190, was against Pakistan in the...
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