London, Sep 01: Alec Stewart, England's most capped player, is set to make his final international appearance on his oval home ground when the fifth test against South Africa gets underway here Thursday. Once his 133rd test is over, England will have to adjust to life without surrey Stalwart Stewart who for 14 years has been a mainstay of the team be it as opening batsman, Wicket-Keeper or Captain.

Unfortunately for the 40-year-old Stewart it has generally been a mediocre team. That has left him with the unwanted record of being on the losing side in more tests than any other player in cricket history, 54 of his 132 matches (41 per cent) ending in defeat.

By contrast only 38 (29 per cent) have ended in victory with 40 (30 per cent) drawn.

Stewart, renowned for the immaculate state of his kit, inherited his old-fashioned values from his father Micky, who also played for surrey and, briefly, England before becoming England manager in the late 1980s.

Brought up on true pitches at the oval, few contemporary England batsmen have looked as good against fast bowling as an in-form Stewart.

His elegant, backfoot style was at its best when his two hundreds in the 1993-94 Barbados Test set up an England victory against a West Indies attack led by curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh. Bureau Report