CRICKET: Age no barrier, says under-fire Stewart; England veteran out to silence his critics.

Byline: MYLES HODGSON

ALEC STEWART returns to one of his favourite Test arenas this week in the familiar situation of having to justify his role as veteran wicketkeeper-batsman in England's new-look squad.

As England prepare to field one of their youngest ever attacks, a likelihood which was increased by the loss of allrounder Andrew Flintoff after he failed to recover from a troublesome shoulder problem, Stewart represents the other end of the spectrum at the age of 40.

His call-up has prompted the usual criticism and forthright opinions,most notably from former England legend Ian Botham, who has questioned the wisdom of choosing Stewart's experience ahead of the promise represented by emerging players like Nottinghamshire's Chris Read and James Foster of Essex.

It is a situation Stewart has visited more than once during a career spanning 13 years and 126 Tests,and one which is clearly beginning to rankle with his normally assured demeanour prior to a Lord's Test.

``All I've done is make myself available and the selectors have picked me and then people have offered various opinions,'' saidStewart.

``I've never had a problem with criticism,as long as it's constructive and wellbalanced,and some of it has been and some hasn't,but it's not the first time this has happened and probably won't be the last.

``There's been a few interesting comments made about my age. The age thing is an easy line.

``It's an easy paragraph and it's an easy comment but there's no written rule to say that when you get to a certain age you have to finish.

``The other thing is that there's nothing written down which says when you get to a certain age you have to become old.

``If you're playing well enough and the selectors are happy enough with you and they pick you, you go out there and do your best.''

That is a mantra he has dedicated himself to ever since it was first suggested that Stewart's better days may have been behind him, which prompted him being dropped from England's line-up for the first Test of the summer back in 1996 against India at Edgbaston.

Stewart inevitably returned for the next Test at Lord's, replacing the injured Nick Knight,and has been a successful fixture ever since,apart from two winters ago when he opted out of the tour to India and was overlooked for the series against New Zealand, giving Foster his first opportunity.

He regained his place at the start of last summer when Foster also suffered an injury,but the doubts about the wisdom of his selection remained as younger candidates also made their claims.

``I keep going because of the pride of playing for England, the pride in my performance, the love of the game and the enjoyment I get from playing, and they're the things that were the same when I was 21 as I am now,''Stewart said.

Even by his own admission entering the final phase of his international career, Stewart has still not set a retirement date and is focusing purely on maintaining an impressive Lord's record, where he averages 48.10 from his 18 Test appearances at the venue.

n MICHAEL VAUGHAN has capped an extraordinary 12 months as an England player by winning the prestigious Vodafone Cricketer of the Year award.

The Yorkshire batsman won the vote after hitting seven centuries during the year,including three against Australia, to help him become the world's leading Test run-scorer in 2002.

That form helped him rise to number one in the Test rankings and he was also named as England's new one-day captain in succession to Nasser Hussain.

CAPTION(S):

England coachDuncan Fletcher gives captainNasser Hussain some tips on pulling his strokes during indoor nets at Lord's yesterday,ahead of tomorrow's Test match