Colleagues held their hands up in admiration for Stewart

But on the opening day of Alec Stewart's 133rd and final Test, any would-be detractors were conspicuous by their absence.

England captain Michael Vaughan was just 15 years old when Stewart made his Test debut against West Indies on the 1990 tour to the Caribbean.

"I'm taller than Alec so I look down on him, but I always looked up to him for his performances," Vaughan said.

"He's been a huge role model for myself and a lot of England cricketers.

"We're going to have to replace him and it's going to be a huge hole to fill."

Not many players know Stewart better than Surrey team-mate Mark Butcher.

"There is never anything different with Alec and what you see is what you get," Bucther said.

England would have been a lot worse off without Stewart over the past decade Former England captain Graham Gooch

"Every day he turns up, lines his shoes up on top of the locker and everything is neat and tidy."

Former England skipper Nasser Hussain made his debut in the same Test as Stewart, but the similarities end there.

"On that tour my gear was all over the place, my underwear was on the other side of the room to my jeans.

"Alec's gear was immaculately packed up and all designer label stuff," he recalled.

"He's that sort of person, a very professional lad who deserves to play 130-odd times for England."

Graham Gooch was England captain at the time Stewart made his Test debut.

Stewart and his bat, which is sure to take pride of place at home

"I remember going to my first selection meeting with his dad and he told me Alec was going to be in the touring party," Gooch recalled.

"I must say, it was a pretty good decision his dad made 13 years ago.

"He's been an absolute revelation for England, a great servant, and England would have been a lot worse off without him over the past decade."

Stewart has rarely been dropped by England on form grounds, but Michael Atherton was captain when he was overlooked at the start of the 1996 summer.

"Well, I suppose his father was no longer on the selection panel then," Atherton quipped.

"It was only one game we dropped him for. He missed seven games when I was captain, but the rest of the time was for broken fingers.

"He made his debut a year before me and he's outlasted me by two years at the backend.

"I think throughout the 1990s when people think of England teams, they will think of Atherton and Stewart at the top of the order because that's where we were for four or five years together.

"We were very different players. He was aggressive and entertaining, I was a bit dull and boring.

"He's been a fabulous player and I enjoyed very much playing with him."