C Martin Jenkins: Stewart must not underestimate the task ahead (5 May 1998)

5 May 1998

Stewart must not underestimate the task ahead

Christopher Martin-Jenkins

THE announcement of who is to captain England this summer will be made from Lord's this morning and for the two principals the journey will be short.

It will require only a hop across the river from Clapham for Adam Hollioake. After Sharjah, he might almost have been able to walk across: now he will be asked to forget Port of Spain and St Vincent and have another go in the one-day internationals.

A slightly longer drive from a leafier region of Surrey will be required of the durable and respected cricketer whose career will reach a peak at the age of 35. There will be no sharp intake of breath when David Graveney announces that Alec Stewart is to be the new England captain, but at least some part of what the chairman of selectors will have to say is not an open secret.

He has to confirm that Stewart will keep wicket, where he will bat, for how long he will be appointed and whether Nasser Hussain, the only other candidate on the final short list, will be officially re-appointed vice-captain, the role he has filled on England's last two tours.

Graveney believes someone should be appointed England captain for an undefined period. Like many of his ideas since taking over at the start of last season, this one is born of common sense.

His other governing characteristic, a willingness to consult widely, is not necessarily a good thing in a selector because, with 18 counties and competitions which do not always sort men from boys, a conscientious inquirer will sometimes get 18 different answers. There is no doubt, however, that a wide consensus in the professional game feels that Stewart has earned his honour and that he is the best man for the job.

He made his first appearance for England - by coincidence, on the same day as Hussain - against the West Indies in Jamaica in 1990. Unlike Hussain, although he has performed several different roles he has seldom been out of the England side since.

As opening batsman, as No 3 or as a wicketkeeper batting anywhere from one to six, he has been more obviously willing than most to strain every nerve and sinew in the cause of English cricket. He averages 32 with the bat for the matches he has kept wicket, 47 for those he has not.

The latter figure is the more remarkable for the fact that in his last series against this summer's opponents, South Africa, two winters ago when Jack Russell was keeping wicket, he averaged only 29. He was even less effective as wicketkeeper and No 3 against Australia last summer, averaging 24.

He is a brilliant player against top-class fast bowling on true wickets, having so often rubbed the shine from the new ball in the best possible way, by cracking it against the boundary boards. Of the hundreds he has scored for England, seven have been made as an opener, three from No 3.

But some notable Test captains have, sooner or later, dropped down the order when they have taken over the leadership, Allan Border, Clive Lloyd, Gary Sobers and Viv Richards among them.

It is a worry, knowing how keen he is to go in at three if the selectors will not permit him to open, that Stewart has never made a Test hundred against either of England's opponents in the remainder of this demanding year, Sri Lanka or Australia. That is as good a reason as any to ask him to drop now to No 6.

Enterprise and bravado are part of the Stewart style. Like a keen young subaltern, his instinct has been to volunteer for the most dangerous jobs. Now it will be to lead from the front. But he should not underestimate the task of keeping wicket and captaining and he will have much more chance of succeeding if Hussain, Graham Thorpe and Mark Ramprakash each go in a place higher than in the Caribbean, leaving the new captain to use the experience of 75 Tests either to rescue a faltering innings or to give it polish and impetus.

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