Jump to content

Alec Stewart

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 95.146.36.37 (talk) at 20:40, 18 January 2018 (→External links: Appointed Surrey Director of Cricket). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other uses, see Alec Stewart (disambiguation).

Alec Stewart

OBE
Personal information
Full name
Alec James Stewart
Born (1963-04-08) 8 April 1963 (age 61)
Merton Park, England
NicknameThe Gaffer
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingOccasional right-arm medium
RoleWicket-keeper
RelationsMJ Stewart (father)
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 543)24 February 1990 v West Indies
Last Test8 September 2003 v South Africa
ODI debut (cap 104)15 October 1989 v Sri Lanka
Last ODI2 March 2003 v Australia
ODI shirt no.4
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1981–2003Surrey
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 133 170 447 504
Runs scored 8,463 4,677 26,165 14,771
Batting average 39.54 31.60 40.06 35.08
100s/50s 15/45 4/28 48/148 19/94
Top score 190 116 271* 167*
Balls bowled 20 0 502 4
Wickets 0 – 3 0
Bowling average – – 148.66 –
5 wickets in innings – – 0 –
10 wickets in match – n/a 0 n/a
Best bowling – – 1/7 –
Catches/stumpings 263/14 159/15 721/32 442/48
Source: Cricinfo, 14 October 2007

Alec James Stewart OBE (born 8 April 1963) is a former English cricketer, and former captain of the England cricket team, who played Tests and ODIs as a right-handed wicketkeeper-batsman. He is the second most capped English cricketer of all time in Test matches[1] and 3rd most capped in One Day Internationals (ODIs), having played in 133 Tests and 170 ODIs.

Domestic career

The younger son of former English Test cricketer Micky Stewart, Stewart was educated at Tiffin School in Kingston upon Thames.[2] He made his debut for Surrey in 1981, earning a reputation as an aggressive opening batsman and occasional wicketkeeper.

Stewart is a well-known supporter of Surrey County Cricket Club and Chelsea F.C. When shirt numbers were introduced for One Day International cricket, Stewart chose the number 4 shirt in honour of his favourite Chelsea player when growing up, John Hollins, and kept that shirt number throughout his career.[3]

International career

Early days

He made his England debut in the first Test of the 1989/90 tour of the West Indies, along with Nasser Hussain, who would eventually replace him as England captain.

At the start of his career, Stewart was a specialist opening batsman for England, with wicketkeeping duties being retained by Jack Russell, who was generally recognised as the superior gloveman and who batted down the order. However, Russell, the inferior batsman, would often be dropped to improve the balance of the side (i.e. to accommodate an extra bowler or batsman), in which case Stewart would don the gloves. After enduring years of selection and deselection, Russell retired from international cricket in 1998, leaving Stewart unrivalled as England's keeper-batsman until his own retirement in 2003.

Alec Stewart's career performance graph.

Prominence

His highest Test score, 190, was against Pakistan in the drawn first Edgbaston Test on 4 June 1992; it was his fourth century in five Tests. In 1994 at the Kensington Oval he became only the seventh Englishman to score centuries in both innings of a Test match, scoring 118 and 143 as the West Indies were beaten at their Bridgetown "fortress" for the first time since 1935.[4]

Stewart's batting average (39.54) is the lowest of any player to have scored 8000 or more runs in Test cricket: he is the only player to have scored over 8000 runs despite an average of under 40.[5] However, when played as a specialist batsman in Test cricket, Stewart averaged 46.90 in 51 games with 9 centuries. Since World War II, only Len Hutton, Geoff Boycott, Dennis Amiss and Alastair Cook have bettered Stewart's average of 46 as a specialist opening batsman for England.[6] As wicketkeeper-batsman he averaged 34.92 from 82 tests, higher than many of his contemporaries and many of the current batch of international wicketkeepers. He was unlucky enough to be on the losing side in a record 54 Test Matches.

Stewart holds the record for scoring most test runs without a career double century in test history(8463)[7]

Captaincy

Stewart was groomed for the England captaincy under Graham Gooch, deputising for him in four tests in India and Sri Lanka in 1993, but when Gooch retired from the captaincy later that year Mike Atherton was chosen to succeed him.

Always more of an establishment figure than any sort of rebel, it was no surprise when Stewart was asked to captain England in 1998 when Mike Atherton resigned. Despite being the age of 35 at the time, Stewart's level of fitness was impeccable, especially bearing in mind that most players do not continue beyond 37. As it was Stewart went on to play for England beyond his 40th birthday – but as events were to transpire – his captaincy of England barely lasted 12 months.

In his first series as captain, against South Africa, Stewart scored an outstanding 164 in the third Test at Old Trafford to salvage a draw, a result which eventually enabled England to overturn a 1–0 deficit to win the series 2–1. Nonetheless, failures against Australia and in the 1999 cricket World Cup saw him sacked from the captaincy to be replaced by Hussain. During his captaincy, he had the unusual distinction of simultaneously captaining the side, opening the batting and keeping wicket. He continued to deputise occasionally as captain of England's one-day side, and became the second international captain to concede a match in 2001, after a pitch invasion during a One Day International against Pakistan rendered the continuation of play impossible.[8] He continued as an England player for five more seasons, and became only the fourth player to score a century in his 100th Test, scoring 105 against the West Indies at Old Trafford in 2000.

He also set a record for playing most number of ODI matches as captain who has kept the wicket as well as went onto open the batting with 28 times in his career.[9]

After cricket

In 2004, Stewart became a founding director of Arundel Promotions with specific responsibility for player management and representation. Cricket playing clients include Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Ashley Giles and Matt Prior.[10]

In 2009, Stewart rejoined Surrey as a part-time consultant to the coaching staff specialising in batting, wicket keeping and mentoring.[11]

Since retiring from playing Stewart has taken on the role as the Club Ambassador for Surrey County Cricket Club and was made an executive director in 2011.

On 17 June 2013, it was announced by Surrey County Cricket Club that Stewart would take charge of first team affairs following the sacking of Chris Adams, until a long term successor is found. In October 2013 the club announced that Graham Ford would become head coach in February 2014, with Stewart becoming Director of Cricket, a new position.[12]

Honours

  • One of five Wisden Cricketers of the Year 1993
  • Appointed an MBE on 13 June 1998
  • Appointed an OBE on 14 June 2003
  • Highest Test run scorer in the world during the 1990s
  • As a mark of his achievements Surrey County Cricket Club have named the gates at the Vauxhall End after him: the Alec Stewart Gates

International centuries

Test centuries

Test centuries of Alec Stewart
No Runs Match Against City/Country Venue Start date Result
[1] 113* 14  New Zealand England London, England Lord's 22 August 1991 Won
[2] 148 15  New Zealand New Zealand Christchurch, New Zealand AMI Stadium 18 January 1992 Won
[3] 107 17  New Zealand New Zealand Wellington, New Zealand Basin Reserve 6 February 1992 Drawn
[4] 190 18  Pakistan England Birmingham, England Edgbaston Cricket Ground 4 June 1992 Drawn
[5] 118 36  West Indies Barbados Bridgetown, Barbados Kensington Oval 8 April 1994 Won
[6] 143
[7] 119 39  New Zealand England London, England Lord's 16 June 1994 Drawn
[8] 170 57  Pakistan England Leeds, England Headingley Cricket Ground 8 August 1996 Drawn
[9] 101* 60  Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Harare, Zimbabwe Harare Sports Club 26 December 1996 Drawn
[10] 173 61  New Zealand New Zealand Auckland, New Zealand Eden Park 24 January 1997 Drawn
[11] 164 78  South Africa England Manchester, England Old Trafford 2 July 1998 Drawn
[12] 107 85  Australia Australia Melbourne, Australia Melbourne Cricket Ground 26 December 1998 Won
[13] 124* 96  Zimbabwe England London, England Lord's 18 May 2000 Won
[14] 105 100  West Indies England Manchester, England Old Trafford 3 August 2000 Drawn
[15] 123 118  Sri Lanka England Manchester, England Old Trafford 13 June 2002 Won

ODI centuries

One Day International centuries of Alec Stewart
No Runs Match Against City/Country Venue Start date Result
[1] 103 38  Pakistan England London, England Kennington Oval 22 May 1992 Won
[2] 116 91  India United Arab Emirates Sharjah, UAE Sharjah Cricket Stadium 11 December 1997 Won
[3] 101 30  Zimbabwe England Birmingham, England Edgbaston Cricket Ground 18 July 2000 Won
[4] 100* 31  West Indies England Nottingham, England Trent Bridge 20 July 2000 Lost

International awards

One Day International Cricket

Man of the Match awards

# Opponent Venue Date Match Performance Result
1 New Zealand WACA Ground, Perth 7 December 1990 29* (43 balls, 4x4)  England won by 4 wickets.[13]
2 South Africa Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne 12 March 1992 77 (88 balls, 7x4)  England won by 3 wickets.[14]
3 Pakistan Kennington Oval, London 22 May 1992 103 (145 balls, 10x4)  England won by 39 runs.[15]
4 West Indies Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain 6 March 1994 WK 2 Ct. ; 53 (38 balls, 9x4, 1x6)  England won by 5 wickets.[16]
5 India Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah 11 December 1997 116 (111 balls, 9x4, 1x6) ; WK 1 st.  England won by 7 runs.[17]
6 Sri Lanka Lord's, London 14 May 1999 WK 3 Ct. ; 88 (146 balls, 6x4)  England won by 8 wickets.[18]
7 England Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham 18 July 2000 101 (144 balls, 8x4) ; WK 4 Ct.  England won by 52 runs.[19]
8 England Lord's, London 22 July 2000 WK 1 ct. ; 97 (124 balls, 14x4)  England won by 6 wickets.[20]
9 Bangladesh Gymkhana Club Ground, Nairobi 5 October 2000 WK ; 87* (112 balls, 7x4, 2x6)  England won by 8 wickets.[21]
10 Sri Lanka Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane 17 December 2002 64 (60 balls, 4x4, 1x6) ; WK 2 ct.  England won by 43 runs.[22]

References

  1. ^ Alec Stewart: most Test matches playing for England, stats.espncricinfo.com, archived from the original on 22 December 2011 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) Retrieved on 3 September 2011
  2. ^ "Alec was aggressive – He'd even sledge the teachers Says the England captain's Games Master!", Sunday Mirror, Steve Whiting, 24 May 1998
  3. ^ Profile at Arundel Promotions Archived 26 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Wisden: West Indies v England, 1993–94
  5. ^ Cricinfo statsguru: batsmen who scored 8000 Test runs or more
  6. ^ Cricinfo statsguru: openers by batting average since 1945
  7. ^ "HowSTAT! Test Cricket – Most Career Runs without a Double Century". www.howstat.com. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  8. ^ Stewart concedes defeat after another pitch invasion
  9. ^ "Records | One-Day Internationals | Individual records (captains, players, umpires) | Captains who have kept wicket and opened the batting | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  10. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 January 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ^ [1]
  12. ^ "Graham Ford Appointed Head Coach" Retrieved 18 October 2013
  13. ^ "1990–1991 Benson & Hedges World Series – 4th Match – England v New Zealand – Perth". Howstat. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  14. ^ "1991–1992 Benson & Hedges World Cup – 28th Match – England v South Africa – Melbourne". Howstat. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  15. ^ "1992 England v Pakistan – 2nd Match – London". Howstat. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  16. ^ "1993–1994 West Indies v England – 5th Match – Port-Of-Spain, Trinidad". Howstat. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  17. ^ "1997–1998 Akai-Singer Champions Trophy – 1st Match – England v India – Sharjah". Howstat. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  18. ^ "1999 ICC World Cup – 1st Match – England v Sri Lanka – London". Howstat. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  19. ^ "2000 NatWest Series - 8th Match - England v Zimbabwe - Birmingham". Howstat. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  20. ^ "2000 NatWest Series - Final - England v Zimbabwe - London". Howstat. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  21. ^ "2000-2001 ICC Knock-Out - 3rd Match - Bangladesh v England - Nairobi". Howstat. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  22. ^ "2002-2003 VB Series - 3rd Match - England v Sri Lanka - Brisbane". Howstat. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
Sporting positions
Preceded by English national cricket captain
(deputised 1993)
1998–1999 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Surrey captain
1992–1997 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Alec_Stewart&oldid=821168833"