England's Stewart breaks tour rut with century

Stewart, also saddled with the wicketkeeping and batting roles, had tallied just 101 runs at 12.63 heading into the final match before next week's pivotal third Adelaide Test.

England trail 1-0 in the five-Test Ashes after losing the second Test in Perth by seven wickets.

But the Surrey right-hander hit back with a polished 126 against a Victorian attack depleted by the absence of front-line bowlers, Damien Fleming, Paul Reiffel and Shane Warne.

At the close on the opening day of the four-day match, England were 308 for five after being sent in to bat on a grassy pitch.

While Stewart ended his lean run that included four ducks in eight first class tour innings, the form concern surrounding John Crawley deepened.

Crawley was summoned to open the English innings in a bid for the Lancashire righthander to find touch with the third Test against Australia starting on Friday.

Considered to be competing with tour addition Graeme Hick for a Test berth, Crawley failed to seize Saturday's opportunity to stake his claim when dismissed for eight.

Vice-captain Nasser Hussain, out for five, also failed before Stewart joined Michael Atherton, 46, and began his innings confidently, belying his previous patchy form.

The England skipper mixed aggression with deft shot placement that kept the scoreboard ticking over with quick singles.

Stewart's quest to place Victoria under pressure resulted in his downfall, run out when trying to pinch a second run on the arm of Jason Arnberger.

Stewart, who batted for 243 minutes and faced 205 balls, said he did not believe he was out of form.

``To be honest I haven't been out there long enough to say whether I have been in nick or out of nick,'' he said.

``I felt I played pretty well and timed the ball nicely ... to spend time out in the middle was the most important thing, the century is a bonus.''

Middle-order batsman Mark Ramprakash continued in form with an unbeaten 61, taking his tour aggregate to 507 at 74.43.