I don't do much in cherry, but when I do it's usually clear, and that switch doesn't work. We have used birch several times for this, especially if we're going to stain it medium or darker shades. It's a shame to take nice cherry and stain it anything. A friend of mine had a client that wanted a cherry kitchen on the cheap, so he used cherry ply for the ends and alder for the face frames, stained and lacqered it, and swears no one could tell the difference. But then the cheap customers see what they want to see as long as they get it for nothing, and feel they're looking good.
Alder is alder no matter what, but it's a nice cabinet wood.
They cut down a whole lot of it around here for lumber, but not too long ago it was considered a weed tree and they used to use it for fire wood. My experience with alder has been that the price has risen substantially over the years. If you are in an area where it is readily available it may still be dirt cheap. Also we have a couple of local shops that sell it as cherry. I give them cherry.