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Stewart banishes thoughts of retirement Staff and agencies - 31 January 2001
At the age of 37 and as a veteran of 105 Tests, Alec Stewart is not yet ready to hang up his boots. It would not be surprising if the England stalwart were thinking of calling it a day as he has taken on a host of responsibilities during his international career. In those 105 Tests, he has stood as wicket-keeper 54 times and skippered his side on 14 occasions, as well as often opening the batting.
But 11 years after his debut, Stewart is still as enthusiastic as ever. He said: "Two years ago I said that the long-term goal was to be part of an Ashes-winning series this summer, and then we'll re-assess. "I've always said while I'm still enjoying the game – feeling fit enough, playing well enough – I'll carry on playing. "I haven't put a date on when I'll be calling it a day – the important thing is that I'm enjoying what I'm doing at the moment." He admits, though, that he struggled in Pakistan as a result of batting in the middle order and frequently having to go in against spin – not his favourite form of bowling. He ended up with just 99 runs in six innings. He said: "It was only three matches in Pakistan and you're entitled to miss out on the odd game here and there. But I didn't score the runs I'd like to have got – what my record says I should score. "It's hard – it's something new for me, going in on turning wickets against spin in the middle order. Normally I'm up at the top against the new ball, where I've had a lot of success." And there's more of the same on the way with England in Sri Lanka and Muttiah Muralitharan lying in wait. "We know it's going to be hard," he said. "Not just Sri Lanka, but then we've got Pakistan at home and the Aussies which is going to be the hardest of all. "But we'll enjoy our success while we're experiencing it and make sure we do our best to make it continue as long as possible." © CricInfo Ltd.
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