But he will play the first game of the grueling Ashes campaign at a ground which is practically his second home -- Lilac Hill Park at Caversham just north of Perth.

It's a long way from the Oval, Surrey's London headquarters, but Stewart has no less affection for the ground lined with peppermint trees in a riverside setting.

And the crowd of 10,000 expected on October 29 for the fixture against the ACB Chairman's XI -- a relatively light-hearted affair before the serious business begins -- see the affable Englishman as one of their own.

Stewart, 35, opening batsman and wicketkeeper, served an eight-year `apprenticeship' at Lilac Hill with the Midland-Guildford Club before moving on to higher dutiesback in England and a career now embracing 81 Tests and 102 One-day internationals.

Former Australian Test all-rounder Keith Slater arranged for the teenage Stewart to join the Western Australian club in the early 1980s. ``He really developed his game with us and saw a different side of the game from what he had known in England,'' Slater said. ``There is a robustness in Australian cricket that is not often seen in the home of the game.

He learned all about gamesmanship -- and he learned to give as good as he got.'' Dennis Lillee, Terry Alderman and Bruce Reid, three of Australia's finest and most aggressive post-war pace bowlers, were among those who regularly tested the young Stewart with searing assaults.

Under the dedicated guidance of former Western Australian batsman Kevin Gartrell, Stewart was a fast learner in a club side which included a legion of current or soon-to-be international cricketers.

Among his team-mates were champion off-spinner Bruce Yardley, wicketkeeper Tim Zoehrer, fastbowler Jo Angel, all-rounders Brendan Julian and Tom Moody and leg-spinner Tony Mann.

Stewart made his initial trip to Western Australia as a member of a Surrey under-19 side. He stayed with the Slater family, whose fast bowler son Scott had been billeted with the Stewarts in Pyrford, Surrey, when a west Australian schoolboy side visited England the previous year.

Stewart liked the brand of cricket he found in Perth and eagerly accepted an invitation to join Midland-Guildford the following season.

The relationship lasted much longer than Stewart could have imagined, with the Englishman returning to Western Australia each summer as soon as he completed duties with Surrey. ``Alec was also a delightful young man who made many friendships which last to this day.''

A measure of local fans' affection will be the Alec Stewart stand, a temporary structure they are planning to erect for the match.