Knight aims to state World Cup case

Nick Knight is aiming to seal his selection for the World Cup in the forthcoming one-day series in Australia, after enduring the agony of sitting on the sidelines for the previous World Cup four years ago.

The Warwickshire left-hander lost his place shortly before the start of the tournament in England with Nasser Hussain taking over as captain Alec Stewart's opening partner.

Knight was dropped after failing to impress in Australia in an identical tournament to the one coming up. This time he wants to help lift England's spirits after successive defeats in the opening three Tests.

"Missing out on the final XI of the World Cup last time was the biggest disappointment so far in my cricket career, so I'd like to try and put that one right and we have an opportunity if I'm selected in a couple of months," said Knight.

"I did alright here four years ago, but the one area I did struggle a bit four years ago was the bounce - the ball kept hitting the top of my bat rather than the middle.

"I've been trying to get as much cricket as I can out here in the last week or so just to get used to the bounce. That was the one area I found very different from home four years ago."

Knight and the other one-day specialists in the 16-man squad teamed up with the Test squad for the first time today in training at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where they play two of their warm-up matches against a strong New South Wales line-up tonight and Australia A on Sunday.

A match against the Prime Minister's XI, captained by Mark Waugh, follows in Canberra on Tuesday. The tournament proper starts with a day-night match against Australia at the SCG on December 13.

"We have three very tough games against very tough opposition," said Knight. "On all the other tours I've been on I don't think we've ever had that sort of preparation and we're all really looking forward to it.

"There's no better preparation than taking on the unknown. I haven't played against McGrath and Lee for a while so it's great to do it in a practice game - we know it's going to be tough but what a great challenge.

"I've played quite a few games now for England and this is going to be the biggest challenge of all and I'm really looking forward to it. It's great to test yourself against the best and we also have a strong Sri Lanka side as well.

"It's a fresh start and we all have to see it that way and we all do. We only arrived yesterday, but the guys are upbeat even though they've been through a tough time. We thought part of our role would be to get things going again and be upbeat but the guys have been good."

Meanwhile all-rounder Andrew Flintoff batted and bowled during the practice session, with the England management assessing whether he can physically stand up to the gruelling demands of the one-day series, which includes four matches in eight days, all at different venues, followed by back-to-back Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.