Nick Knight watched England's efforts in the last World Cup from afar; this time, much hope is resting on him opening his shoulders. Andrew Tong talks to the man in the vanguard:

It was a fairy-tale start to an enduring story. Nick Knight made his debut for England in one-day cricket in late August 1996 and, opening the batting, charged down the wicket at the great fast bowler Wasim Akram. Over that weekend Knight took back-to-back centuries off Wasim's Pakistan, carrying his bat on the Sunday for 125, his highest international score.

After a dispiriting Test series, in which Knight had already registered his maiden Test century, his name conjured up images of ancient warriors as he led the England line, giving the charge to the world's leading one-day bowler. Upon reaching each century, he doffed his helmet and shook his matted blond hair like English cricket's very own Sir Lancelot.

England's one-day tactics were shown to be behind the times at the 1996 World Cup. Now it seemed they had unearthed an opener to rival the big-hitting antics of Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana for Sri Lanka, who took world cricket by storm with their aggressive approach to the start of the innings while the stringent fielding restrictions applied.

Knight missed the last World Cup after a very difficult baptism in Test cricket at the hands of West Indies the previous season, consisting of a full toss on the helmet from Courtney Walsh, another, sickening blow to the head while fielding at short leg and a broken finger which kept him out of the final Test and the winter tour.

'I was very impressed by Sri Lanka,' he said. 'They took the formula for the first 15 overs into a new dimension and showed us all what could be done and just how destructive the aggressive approach could be. Jayasuriya is obviously a very strong player, especially when he's hitting straight and through mid-on and extra cover.'

By picking Ali Brown for a so-called 'pinch-hitting' role against the Indians a few weeks later, England were playing catch-up. The Lankans made everyone think more about one-day tactics, not least the Warwickshire left-hander.

Knight, who combines self-awareness with personal candour, said: 'Everyone has different strengths, and whereas that may not be the way for everyone to play, what the Sri Lankans taught me was that you should work out where you are going to hit your boundaries – choose your strong areas – and concentrate on hitting fours and sixes there.'

Knight's heroics against Pakistan ensured his selection for England's winter tours of Zimbabwe and New Zealand. The news of David Lloyd's retirement as England coach after the World Cup in June has brought with it accounts of the infamous First Test in Bulawayo, where England had to score 205 in 37 overs but fell one run short.

In spite of very negative bowling tactics, Man of the Match Knight smashed 96 off 117 balls and was run out going for the winning run. The rest is history, with Lloyd claiming 'We flippin' murdered 'em'. This overshadowed Knight's finest three hours on the Test stage, which had come about because of his skills as a one-day batsman.

Knight endured a poor Test series in New Zealand and played no part in the 1997 Ashes, while Mark Butcher, John Crawley, Adam and Ben Hollioake found favour with the selectors instead. Last summer he was brought back for one Test against South Africa, the Third at Old Trafford, after Steve James had a shot at opening at Lord's, but he did not make runs. So is he in danger of being regarded purely as a one-day player?

'I don't occupy my mind with that,' Knight insists. 'In one-day cricket I have always had success in the past. I got off to a flier with two centuries in my first three matches, and the average has been coming down ever since. Basically I've worked out a game plan and I've stuck to it, and it has proved successful. I haven't been dropped either, and the continuity definitely helps.

'But I'm desperate to get back in the Test side and at least the one-day cricket gives me the opportunity to perform while remaining in the public eye. It does me no harm. In Test cricket I've had good days and bad days. I know I have got to fight to get back in. But all I can do is put in consistent performances in county cricket. I had a chance last year but I didn't do as well as I could have done.'

The return of Nasser Hussain and then Mark Ramprakash from the international wilderness, allied to muddled selectorial thinking over openers and all-rounders, has made his task all the harder, but he retains a strong self-belief: 'I'm never one to lose hope. If I don't make it back into the Test team this year, it is not as though I am permanently stuffed. I'm still young and I've got plenty of time left in the game. I know that I can do well at Test level, and I've scored a Test hundred, which shows what I am capable of.'

He reacts philosophically to selectorial vagaries over the years. 'I've opened or I've batted at number six. Obviously I prefer to open and it does occupy my mind but, in the end, if it gets me in the side, I'm happy to bat at number 11, bowl a little off-spin, I'll even keep wicket – though not in the World Cup!'

In addition to concerns over fitness, England's 15-man squad for the World Cup has been criticised for its average age of 30, and it comes as a shock to discover that Knight is playing his first World Cup at the age of 29. But he is probably England's best fielder, in the slips, the covers, on the fence, certainly the fittest, and he is not worried about time passing him by.

'You can't be a bright young prospect for ever. But I do realise that I have got to start performing now. As I said, I've still got time but a lot depends on the state of your body. I am a fitness fanatic but it's easy for me. I'm lucky with fitness. I can eat a lot but I still don't put on any weight. I probably do more fitness training than anyone else. I just can't sit there staring at the four walls. Even so, I am fortunate that I don't have to try too hard.'

The march of time featured prominently in Knight's early career at Essex, where he was awarded his county cap at the end of the 1994 season. In his 12 first-class matches that year he had hit four hundreds and averaged 47.2. Much had been heard about the latest prodigy from the Felsted stable of Derek Pringle and John Stephenson since he had made his debut in 1991. It looked as if the Essex public would finally see him hold down a regular spot.

But Knight left at the end of 1994 to join Warwickshire. 'The problem was that I was in and out of the side. Graham Gooch was in the Test side but when he came back, he would go straight back into the team. Then there was a very strong line-up after him, with Nasser Hussain, Mark Waugh, Paul Prichard and John Stephenson, so there was really only one batting spot to fight over. And I was given the opportunity to go somewhere where, once I made it into the team, I could stay in.'

There were public outpourings claiming he had betrayed those who nurtured him in the game and invested in his future, though he had only played in half of Essex's matches. 'The way I see it is, you have to look after yourself. You are desperate to play first-class cricket when you are young. At the end of the 1994 season Essex could have said to me, “You'll be in the team next year”. But when you're young, memories of being in and out of the team tend to stick in your mind. I was very ambitious, and I don't mind if the people at Essex are slightly aggrieved by my moving – in fact, I would have been disappointed if they weren't.'

'Ambitious' is the word for a young tyro looking for first-team cricket, who joins a county which had just enjoyed a uniquely successful season under the coaching of Bob Woolmer and captaincy of Dermot Reeve. 'There was obviously something special going on, having won three trophies in one season. I'd always enjoyed playing against Warwickshire and I enjoyed the spirit in which they played the game. I've always scored runs at Edgbaston too. It was them who showed an interest in me.'

At Warwickshire Knight's first-class career began in earnest, and his international feats had their genesis in the move too: 'It was a fresh start for me. Dermot always encouraged me to play my shots more. I have always been a free-scoring player, and Dermot saw that in me and told me to be more dominant. This had a big effect on me, and suddenly I was playing innings that I had never played before. He told me to be positive – if the ball was there to hit, then hit it. I was never told to make sure I didn't get out, to ensure that I was still there at lunch or anything like that.'

Reeve was the most innovative captain on the county circuit and a brilliant one-day performer, while Woolmer, who had left Edgbaston after their unprecedented success in 1994 to become South Africa's national coach, has since made the Proteas into one of the hot favourites for the World Cup. Are they the side to fear most?

'First of all, we don't fear anyone,' Knight was quick to point out. 'The beauty of this World Cup is that any one of the Test-playing nations can win it, anyone can beat anyone on the day, which makes it intriguing. But both South Africa and Australia are looking very strong.

'Their sides have not changed much over the last few years, so the players know exactly what their role is within the team, and they play very much as a unit. Sure, they are beatable. But in England last year, in the Texaco Trophy in May, South Africa proved that they can play in our conditions at that time of year. It should be said, however, that the home advantage is huge.'

Knight believes that England have placed themselves in a good position too, through sound preparation and selection. 'A lot depends on the players at your disposal. The team is the most important thing and with England the nucleus has stayed pretty much the same since the last World Cup, so that each member of the side knows what the others are capable of.

'The composition of the team is such that we've got the all-rounders to back up the strike bowlers, hard-hitting batsmen and accumulating ones too. So, effectively, we can field lots of different sides. Even though not everyone might get a game, the great thing is the variety in the squad.'

It may be no exaggeration that, after his captain Alec Stewart, Knight's is the first name on the teamsheet when it comes to putting the opposition to the sword and dealing the first blow.