PERTH, Australia, Dec 2 (AFP) - Tormented England cricket captain Alec Stewart went to the nets for a special session here on Wednesday, accompanied by his father.
Mickey Stewart, 66, who played in eight Tests for England in the 1960s, is trying to help his 35-year-old son, a veteran of 83 Tests, overcome one of the biggest form crises of his nine-year international career.
The signs were promising when the right-hander lashed an entertaining 74 in the opening match of the tour - a one-day match - but since then eight first-class knocks have yielded a miserable 101 runs at an average of 12.62.
If he was anyone other than the ship's master, he would be uncertain for the third Test in Adelaide after notching 8, 3, 38 and 0 in four innings in the Brisbane and Perth Tests.
That's why he headed for the WACA Ground, with a number of other England players, on a day officially designated practice-free.
Stewart senior understands the trials and tribulations of an Australian tour, having been here several times in official roles with England sides, not least for the 1986-87 tour when, as assistant manager and coach, he teamed up with skipper Mike Gatting in England's surprise 2-1 Ashes triumph.
So, Micky Stewart explained Wednesday, it was only natural he should try to guide his son back to his free-scoring best.
"I usually have a couple of sessions with him before a tour and another couple after," he said. "Now I'm having one during a tour as well."
Stewart senior, now retired, and his wife are in Australia to watch the cricket.
The dutiful father loaded balls in a bowling machine, making adjustments from time to time, as his son pushed, pulled, cut and hooked with an assurance he will hope to reproduce in the third Test in Adelaide starting on December 11.
Alec Stewart, who spent eight seasons breaking records in first-grade cricket in Perth before returning to Surrey, wants to succeed on this tour for a variety of reasons.
The most obvious, of course, is that he wants England to take back the Ashes after Australia have whacked the inventors of the game in the past five series.
Almost as importantly, though, he desperately wants to dispel a perception that, while he is a fine batsman, he does not have the extra class to succeed in the game's toughest theatre -- Australia.
Statistics can be misleading, but the fact is Stewart averages a meagre 25 in Ashes games, compared with 41 in all Test cricket.
In almost nine years of test cricket he has scored 11 Test centuries, but none of them against Australia from 42 innings in 21 Tests.
His current run drought will inevitably turn the searchlight on his three-sided role in this series: leader, wicketkeeper and top-order (number four) batsman.
Before the tour, one respected former Australian Test cricketer described Stewart's workload as a "mission impossible".
Stewart defends his mountainous duties with bulldog defiance, saying:"I'm doing two of my jobs okay and the other not quite as well. The batting is a concern, but I can only keep plugging away."
He may need to plug away with dramatically greater success in Adelaide to prevent England team management from leaning on him to hand over the 'keeping gloves to Warren Hegg or, less likely, drop down the batting order.
Meanwhile, England's star left-handed batsman Graham Thorpe had an extended nets workout -- and pronounced himself satisfied with his troublesome back.
Forced out of the second Test because of stiffness in the lumbar region, Thorpe said he was confident of being able to play against Victoria in Melbourne in the four-day game starting on Saturday.