"Can he deal with everything international cricket throws at you? Is his temperament right? I'll say yes."
Tuesday 4 September 2018 13:29, UK
Rory Burns has "earned the right" to succeed Alastair Cook at the top of England's Test batting line-up, according to his director of cricket at Surrey, Alec Stewart.
Surrey skipper Burns has passed 1,000 first-class runs for the fifth season in a row, with his haul this term keeping his side on course for their first Championship title since 2002.
Cook, England's all-time leading run scorer, will retire from international cricket after the fifth Test - his 161st and 159th in succession - against India at the Oval from Friday, live on Sky Sports.
"[Burns] has scored runs aplenty in Championship cricket for four or five years now so he has earned the right," Stewart told Sky Sports News during Surrey's clash with Essex at Chelmsford.
"People will say I am biased but I look at it from a neutral point of view and if he isn't the replacement then I will have a lot to say"
"He has earned the right to play and then it's down to him. Can he deal with everything international cricket throws at you? Is his temperament right?
"I'll say yes. I'd be very comfortable in recommending him to the selectors if asked and saying that he is the right person to step up.
"He may face his ball in Test cricket opening the batting against spin [in Sri Lanka in November] and that will be something new to him but you hope, given the opportunity, that he will settle in to international cricket.
"You are never going to fill the shoes of Cook but [Rory] could at least have a good run opening the batting home and away so he can bed in and show the qualities he has shown for Surrey.
If there's a spot going there [for England] it would be nice but we'll have to wait and see.
"Opening the batting has been hard - you are against a brand new ball and some of the surfaces around the world have been difficult, it's seamed, it's swung.
"At the same time it is still a ball coming down the wicket and if you have a method, technique and mental strength to deal with the highs and the lows, you go a long way to being successful at the top level."
Stewart ended his 133-Test career at The Oval against South Africa in 2003 and says he has encouraged Cook to "enjoy" his send-off at the south London ground - before focussing on scoring runs.
"He will be looking forward to it," Stewart added of Cook, who will move fifth on the list of all-time leading Test run-scorers, above Kumar Sangakkara, if he manages to hit 147 or more at The Oval.
"I spoke to him about 10 days ago when he told me that this was going to be his last game and I told him to enjoy it.
"There is going to be so much press coverage about how great he has been - rightly so - and he is going to get standing ovations. But he's got to clear his mind almost as he still has a job to do.
"He is almost the quiet achiever and at times goes under the radar behind the more flamboyant players alongside him. But no one has been more valuable to the team than him.
"I don't think we will realise how great he was until he has gone."
Watch day one of the fifth Test between England and India, Cook's last, live from 10am on Friday on Sky Sports Cricket (channel 404) and Main Event (channel 401).
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