Alec Stewart: "It's not something I have taken lightly"

Alec Stewart has announced that he will retire from international cricket at the end of this summer's five-Test series against South Africa.

"I have given it a lot of thought and I let Duncan [Fletcher] know this morning over breakfast and then informed David Graveney as well," Stweart explained. "It's not something I have taken lightly. I had 13 years as an international cricketer and it's not something you just give away.

"I could have left it until later on in the summer but I thought it was better to get it out in the open now so we can get on with the series."

Fletcher said that news had come as surprise to him. "I still believe that Alec is the best allround wicketkeeper we have got by some distance but there are some young keepers coming through. I think he has got better and better over the last couple of years and the thing that has impressed me most is his professionalism and the way he has been a role model for younger guys."

The announcement means that Chris Read, who performed admirably during the recent NatWest one-day series, will step up and take over as England's Test wicketkeeper. While Stewart would almost certainly like to continue as England's No. 1 until the end of the summer and bow out in the final Test at The Oval, the selectors might not be quite as sentimental and could opt to promote Read sooner rather than later.

Since making his debut against West Indies in 1990, Stewart has played in 128 Tests, the most by any English player, and scored 8281 runs at 40.19, including 15 hundreds.