Stewart fears his future will be at No 7

Alec Stewart fears that his performance on the third day of the Fourth Ashes Test may have cemented his place down the order.

England's wicket-keeper admits he would rather bat up the order but today made an unbeaten 76 batting at seven.

And as he continued to run out of partners, his shots became increasingly eccentric, though still profitable.

He said: "I read in the papers that (chairman of selectors) David Graveney thinks I bat well with the tail so I have probably done myself no favours the way I batted today.

"I have always made no secret of the fact I like batting up the order. I started out as an opener and I have gradually worked my way down to seven," lamented Stewart.

"Batting with Ramps (Ramprakash) we could have been number three and four, and that is no problem. But then when nine, 10 and 11 come in that is when you have to change your normal way of playing."

Stewart revealed that some of the shots he played were a gamble which paid off but his tactics clearly did not faze Glenn McGrath, who picked up seven wickets in the innings, including his 350th in Test cricket.

"I guess he just summed the situation up and decided he needed to play a few shots," said McGrath.

"There was just that one shot when he crunched me over extra-cover for six. That is not too bad from the overs I bowled, I suppose."