Former England captain Alec Stewart has jumped to the defence of under-fire skipper Andrew Strauss.

Strauss has only notched one Test century in his last 48 innings, leading some pundits to call for him to be axed.

England's disappointing form this winter against Pakistan and Sri Lanka has also come under intense scrutiny.

However, Stewart has said that now is not the time to be changing the captaincy.

"Andrew Strauss is not bullet-proof and his place in the side is certainly not guaranteed," the 48-year-old wrote in his column for The Mirror. "But I am definitely not calling for England to drop their skipper for the second Test against Sri Lanka.

"Even if Strauss misses out with the bat again this week I still believe that the selectors must keep him in charge for the West Indies series at the start of summer.

"With a quality South Africa team ­arriving in July, is this really the time to introduce a new face to the set up to take on the likes of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander? I don't think so."

Stewart is England's most capped Test player, amassing 133 appearances for the Three Lions.