England's Alec Stewart prepares for Oval exit

He made his debut for Surrey in 1981 - a full year before England colleague James Anderson was born - and his Test debut in 1990. Since then he has played in 132 Tests for England, scoring 8425 runs and accounting for 273 victims when he has either kept wicket or been a very good outfielder. But, like all good things, his international career is coming to an end. The man in question, of course, is Alec Stewart who makes what will no doubt be an emotional farewell appearance for England in the fifth npower Test against South Africa on his very own Oval.

Unless he has a quite extraordinary final match, he will finish just behind Graham Gooch as the most prolific Test batsman for England and just behind Alan Knott as the most successful wicket-keeper, but those statistics alone illustrate the magnitude of his contribution to England's cause. Trevor Bailey, who fulfilled all the criteria himself, used to define a genuine all-rounder as someone who could get into the side on the strength of either of his attributes. Stewart could, and has, played purely as a batsman and could just as easily play purely as a wicket-keeper. Throw in the fact that he captained England in 15 Tests and you have the true all-rounder.

His play, like his appearance, has always been immaculate. Clean kit, clean hands and clean strokes. In fact, the only blot on his record came when he was accused of giving information to an Indian bookmaker in exchange for a financial consideration. He claimed that he had never knowingly dealt with such a person and, after an investigation, the case was dismissed and he was exonerated.

Some players might have felt disillusioned at that stage in their career and decided to call it a day, or at least failed to recapture the vitality in their game. Not "The Gaffer" as he is universally known. He just got on with the job of scoring runs and keeping wicket as if nothing had happened. And he has gone on doing that until he is now 40 and has decided that he simply would not be comfortable with another tour.

To be fair, he is probably not scoring his runs quite as easily now as he once did, and there are little flaws creeping into his keeping - something that a perfectionist cannot accept and why he made the announcement that this would be his last Test.

Even so, he looked as good as ever when scoring 72 against South Africa at Trent Bridge and while the critics have been quick to talk about his declining powers as a keeper, he still stands comparison with his opponent in this series, Mark Boucher. It has been noticeable that when conditions have been difficult for the keepers, Stewart has been by far the tidier of the two. Nowadays, though, when he is forced to dive down the leg side to mop up another wayward delivery at an awkward height, he is likely to throw a disapproving look at the bowler as if to say "Hang on a moment, you can't expect me to keep on cleaning up after you," as a tired mother might say to her ungrateful offspring.

There is no doubt that his finest moment came in Bridgetown in 1994. Opening the batting, he made 118 in the first innings against a pretty useful West Indian attack - Ambrose, Walsh and the two Benjamins - and then proceeded to do even better in the second innings with 143. He is still regarded with awe in Barbados by those who saw those innings.

Although he has become a pretty good player of spin in recent years, at the start of his career there was no doubt that he was at his best against pace and so opening the batting was a natural position for him in the order. The problem was, though, that it was asking just too much to open and keep wicket and, later, captain the side as well. But there was nobody else around who could offer such an attractive package to the selectors - a top-order batsman of the highest class who could keep wicket as well as anyone and better than most.

We will never know whether England got the most out of Alec Stewart. He might have been an even greater player had he just been allowed to open the innings but, at the end of the day, you cannot argue against what he was asked to do and what he has achieved. Do not forget that he also played in 170 one-day internationals, scoring over four and a half thousand runs and making 174 dismissals. And all the time he was turning in his normal excellent performances for Surrey. Surrey probably will not have to replace him as he says he wants to play on in county cricket, but the England selectors have to wrestle with the problem of how to replace the irreplaceable.

As all the kind words about an outstanding cricketer flow in over the next few days, there are a couple that those same selectors, and their predecessors, might like to offer on behalf of a grateful nation. Those words? Thank you.