Stewart - 119 not out

Stewart is not only about to displace Gooch, his first international captain, as England's most capped performer but also to move up to ninth place in a world list headed by former Australia skipper Allan Border (156).

Not bad for a bloke who, some said, only made the team in 1990 because his dad, Micky, was coach.

It has also been suggested at various times that Stewart could not cut it as an opening batsman. Well he did, and never better than when scoring two centuries in the same Test, against the West Indies in Barbados eight years ago.

And that he should not try to keep wicket in anything but oneday cricket. Well he has, 67 times at the highest level, and earned the approval of master craftsmen like Russell.

And that he would not get beyond 115 caps after telling England he was not prepared to tour India last winter. Well here he is, with 118 in the cupboard, and his first Test century as a No6 batsman-keeper safely bagged during the Old Trafford Test against Sri Lanka.

Not that it has been milk and honey all the way.

Stewart had to wait a long time to be given a run at the captaincy. In the end, it was more of a jog than a run, finishing a year down the track after a miserable World Cup effort on home soil.

As for the Ashes, he has been involved in six series - with another possibly coming up this winter - and never looked like finishing on the winning side.

But far, far worse even than losing to Australia was the day, in November 2000, when Stewart looked as though he might lose everything he had achieved as a cricketer.

An Indian bookmaker dragged him into the match-fixing scandal by alleging he had taken money for supplying information. Stewart issued his denials but had to wait months before the International Cricket Council'santi-corruption czar, Lord Condon, said there was no evidence against the accused.

It is 12 years since this immaculately turned-out son of a former England Test batsman walked out to face the West Indies on his debut in Kingston, Jamaica; the same game in which England's present captain, Nasser Hussain, made his first Test appearance.

He has fitted a lot into the time between then and now but Russell, a team-mate at Sabina Park in 1990, had a feeling Stewart would be around for a while.

"You could see what a good player he was straight away," said the Gloucestershire keeper. "But, even more than that, his attitude and the way he went about his work suggested he would build himself a long career.

"We played youth cricket against each other years before and even then his hunger for the game, his desire to succeed and his mental toughness all shone through. Alec is just a great competitor."

Whenever England needed to find room for an extra batsman or an additional bowler through the 1990s, the answer was always the same: leave out Russell and give Stewart the gloves.

That sounds like a recipe for friction between the two. But the selectors were lucky.

"We always helped each other, no matter who was keeping wicket," said Russell, who finally announced his international retirement in 1998. "Alec is a great guy to work with."

And good behind the stumps? "He's a top-class keeper," argued Russell. "He may have started as a batsman who occasionally kept wicket but now he's a fully-fledged front-line keeper. He has matured into a world-class all-rounder.

"It is going to be a magic moment for Alec at Lord's on Thursday and I'm thrilled for him. He's deserved the lot."