Alec James Stewart OBE (born 8 April 1963 in Merton Park, Greater London) is a retired English cricketer, a right-handed batsman-wicketkeeper and former captain of the England cricket team.
He is the most capped English cricketer of all time in Test matches and 2nd most capped in One Day Internationals, having played in 133 Tests and 170 ODIs.The younger son of former English Test cricketer Micky Stewart, Stewart was educated at Tiffin School in Kingston upon Thames.
He made his début for Surrey in 1981, earning a reputation as an aggressive opening batsman and occasional wicketkeeper. He made his England début in the first Test of the 1989/90 tour of the West Indies. At the start of his career, Stewart was a specialist opening batsman for England, with wicketkeeping duties being retained by Jack Russell.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.Stewart was vice-captain of the England side during most of Atherton's tenure as captain, eventually succeeding him in 1998.
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. 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.
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.
