The former England captain recently ended an 11-year spell as director of cricket at Surrey after they clinched a historic third successive County Championship in order to spend more time with his family.

Stewart, who scored 40,936 runs for Surrey in a 22-year playing career, will take up a new position from January for a fixed number of days a year with the responsibility of carrying on their success.

“Everyone knows my love of the club and what it means to me and therefore I’m very pleased that the club wanted me to continue in this new role that has been created,” 61-year-old Stewart said.

“With this new set-up, I firmly believe that we can continue the success at Surrey that we’ve seen in recent times.”

Stewart will carry on working alongside Surrey head coach Gareth Batty and captain Rory Burns, while also advising on the talent pathway. The club will not appoint a new director of cricket.

Surrey chair Oli Slipper said: “We completely understood and accepted Alec’s decision to step back from his director of cricket role at the start of the season but we always wanted to retain his expertise and his impact at Surrey.

“We’ve had excellent conversations with Alec around a common ground that worked for him and for the club and I’m thrilled to say that we have found a role that works for all parties.”