C Martin Jenkins: England put faith in strong Stewart (6 May 1998)

6 May 1998

England put faith in strong Stewart

Christopher Martin-Jenkins

ALEC STEWART will bat no lower than four and keep wicket when he leads England into the first Test match against South Africa on June 4, writes Christopher Martin-Jenkins.

"We decided he is strong enough to take all that is going to be thrown at him," said David Graveney in announcing from Lord's that Stewart had been appointed as captain for all six Tests this season, five against South Africa and one against Sri Lanka on his home ground at the Oval in August.

Adam Hollioake will continue as captain of the one-day international side for the three matches against South Africa which start, also at the Oval, a fortnight tomorrow.

Where Stewart bats still has to be resolved but despite the fact that he will be wicketkeeper - "in all probability" said Graveney, but that decision has effectively been taken already - the plan is for him to start the series at first wicket down. That is where he batted, with scant success, in five of the six Tests while keeping wicket against Australia last year. Ironically, his best score of the series, 87 at Trent Bridge, was as an opener.

More time has been spent by various England selection committees on how to get the best out of Stewart than on anything else since Ted Dexter first decided to use him as wicketkeeper and middle-order batsman against the West Indies in the final Test in 1991, in order to include five bowlers. That experiment was a temporary success and if Stewart can survive until the end of the Australia series as captain, wicketkeeper and No 3, Clark Kent can hand over the role as Superman.

It goes without saying that it is unprecedented for England to have two captains simultaneously from the same county because the duties were divided for only the second time in history when Hollioake took over from Mike Atherton (who was unavailable) in Sharjah late last year. Harold Gilligan captained England in official Tests in New Zealand in 1929-30 at the same time that F S G Calthorpe was leading England in the first official Tests in the West Indies. Long gone are the days when England could field two teams at once and expect to win both series.

Stewart now plays under Hollioake's captaincy for Surrey and he will do so again in the Texaco Trophy games this month. Unlike Mark Taylor, who was yesterday reappointed Australia's Test captain with Steve Waugh confirmed as one-day leader, Stewart is quite happy to share the responsibility, though Hollioake needs to reassert his Midas touch against South Africa if he is not to lose the job before the World Cup in England this time next year.

Graveney was unconvincing in explaining why Hollioake had not also been selected for the tournament against South Africa and Sri Lanka in August. "We avoided naming Adam as captain for the triangular series only because it is still a long way off and we want to avoid putting extra pressure on him to perform ahead of those matches," the chairman said. Surely, however, the way to take the pressure off would have been to appoint him for all this season's internationals.

That is not to say that the selectors are not wise to hedge their bets, because Hollioake has something to prove after the sudden disintegration in the performances of England's hand-picked one-day side in the Caribbean. Equally, the consideration given to appointing Stewart for an indefinite period has been resisted, as has the temptation to reappoint Nasser Hussain as vice-captain.

There is, therefore, a sensibly open mind about who will take the side to Australia. Everyone will hope that Stewart can make a success of the job this summer and that he will be able to leave for the intensive Ashes series (as early as Oct 23) with a win against the South Africans behind him.

Graveney named his experience, amounting to 75 Tests and 10 hundreds, and the respect which he has earned in the dressing-room by his professionalism and spirit, as the two reasons for preferring him to Hussain. It was, he said "a very close-run thing".

Hussain was told last Thursday that he would not be the man but at 30, five days younger than Atherton, five years younger than Stewart, he still has time. Mark Ramprakash is his most obvious rival but the selectors rightly ruled out sudden promotion for a batsman who has only just established an unquestioned right to a place in the side.

Stewart said yesterday that he would be working closely with Hussain this summer: "We go back a long way. We made our Test debut together and we get on well. I think he's got a good cricket brain and I'll be looking to use his knowledge."

Once known as Micky's son, but long since established as a distinguished cricketer in his own right, Alec Stewart has thoroughly earned the honour bestowed on him yesterday. Like the England sides in which he has played with such fervour, he has been inconsistent, but he has set a fine example in fitness and dedication to younger players and the figure he presents to the public is bright, optimistic, clean-cut and smart, which is what his employers wanted in Atherton's successor.

It is ironic that Stewart's inclination to be a little too sharp on the field in the heat of battle counted against him when Atherton was preferred to him 52 Tests and almost five years ago.

Although it has not been stated, similar doubts about Hussain are part of the reason for his being overlooked now. His suggestion that England needed to get "nastier" in a newspaper article last season - he should have said "tougher" - and a reputation for hot-headedness did not help his cause despite the recent evidence of greater maturity in both his batting and his temperament. But Stewart's experience shows how the door is seldom closed for good.

Alec Stewart Factfile

1963: Born April 8, Merton.

1981: Makes Surrey debut and plays first of nine successive winters for Midland Guildford in Perth, Australia.

1985: Wins county cap.

1989: Makes Test debut for England against West Indies in Jamaica.

1990: Dropped for home series against India after scoring only one half-century in his first 13 Test innings. Still earns selection for tour of Australia, but fails to establish himself despite playing every Test.

1991: Marries Lynn, Sept 28. Dropped again but returns for final Test of series against West Indies at the Oval and scores his first Test century in one-off match against Sri Lanka at Lord's.

1992: Captains England for first time against India in Madras after Graham Gooch falls ill the night before the Test.

1993: Loses out to Michael Atherton in competition to succeed Gooch as England captain.

1994: First Englishman to score centuries in both innings against West Indies in Barbados. Breaks right index finger on England tour of Australia after being hit by Craig McDermott during first innings of second Test in Melbourne. Jack Russell flown out as replacement. Earns £202,187 during benefit year.

1995: Unable to bat in second innings of third Test against West Indies at Edgbaston after injuring right index finger again to miss rest of series.

1996: Disappointing tour of South Africa and was dropped for home series against India. Recalled after Nick Knight injures hand and scores 170 at Headingley against Pakistan in second Test back. Goes on to become leading scorer in Test cricket during the calendar year with 793 runs. Wins first domestic trophy by leading Surrey to AXA Sunday League title.

1997: Resigns as Surrey captain following tragic death of wicketkeeper Graham Kersey in car crash, claiming the dual responsibility of keeping for both his county and England would put too much of a strain on him. Surrey win Benson and Hedges Cup with victory over Kent in final. Helps England win Champions Trophy one-day tournament in Sharjah.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)