Stewart has the final word

Alec Stewart will retire from Test cricket at the end of the summer. While many argued that this should have happened earlier in order to give youth its chance, Stewart maintained he was still the best and age didn't matter. However, after 13 years of service, he has decided to step down. Fittingly, it was his call and no one else's, for like in his record-breaking career, Stewart has always played the shots.

When a player walks away from international cricket - rather than the other way round - he has to have something special. And when Stewart, now aged 40, today announced his retirement, the mind immediately harks back over his career to pick out the highlights.

In 128 Tests (a record for an Englishman) he has become England's second-highest run-scorer. All Stewart fans have their favourite memories. Whether it be the twin centuries in Barbados in 1993-94, his emotional hundred in his 100th Test against West Indies at Old Trafford in 2000, or leading England to their first major series win for 12 years, against South Africa in 1998, they all point to the fact that he will undeniably go down as an England great.

And it's not only his well-renowned national pride and determined grit which has brought so much to English cricket, but simply his unquestionable ability too. By playing for the majority of his international career as a world-class batsman-wicketkeeper, he has been an invaluable allrounder, enabling England the much-needed bonus of playing an extra bowler or batsman.

There have also been lows. His captaincy was prematurely cut short only a season after that series win against South Africa in 1998. He captained England only 15 times, compared to Michael Atherton's 54 and Graham Gooch's 34, and he paid the price for another failed Ashes campaign in 1998-99, and for England's hapless exit in the 1999 World Cup. And then there was the allegation from the Indian bookmaker that Stewart had accepted money for information during England's trip to India in 1992-93. He was cleared of any wrong-doings, and he came back stronger to continue to be a pivotal member of the England side.

But while the cricketing world look back, the England selectors now must look to the future. While Stewart will inevitably swap his monotone yells of "Get `old of it" and "run `im out" from behind the stumps to some more insightful and subtle words in the commentary box, England will have a new wicketkeeper.

Chris Read is the obvious choice to be Stewart's successor. After James Foster's unlucky break at the start of the last English summer (which enabled Stewart a place back in the team) and his tendency to drop the odd howler, Read's accomplished performance in this season's NatWest Challenge and Series makes him the leading candidate.

Assuming Stewart plays in all five matches, he will become the third highest capped Test player. He always said he wanted to go out at the top, and with the last Test scheduled at The Oval, he could have a fairy-tale ending.