Alec Stewart has taken on a new role as the high-performance cricket adviser at Surrey starting from the beginning of next year with a “significant reduction” in his workload. The former England captain recently concluded an 11-year tenure as director of cricket at Surrey following their achievement of a historic third consecutive County Championship title, aiming to allocate more time to his family.
Having amassed 40,936 runs for Surrey during his 22-year playing career, Stewart will commence his new position in January, working a fixed number of days per year, tasked with sustaining the club’s success. “Everyone knows my love for the club and what it means to me, and therefore I’m very pleased that the club wanted me to continue in this new role that has been created,” remarked the 61-year-old Stewart. “With this new set-up, I firmly believe that we can continue the success at Surrey that we’ve seen in recent times.”
Stewart will continue to collaborate with Surrey’s head coach Gareth Batty and captain Rory Burns while also providing guidance on the talent pathway. The club has decided against appointing a new director of cricket. Surrey chair Oli Slipper expressed, “We completely understood and accepted Alec’s decision to step back from his director of cricket role at the start of the season but we always wanted to retain his expertise and his impact at Surrey.” Slipper continued, “We’ve had excellent conversations with Alec around a common ground that worked for him and for the club, and I’m thrilled to say that we have found a role that works for all parties.”