BBC SPORT | Special Events | England in Zimbabwe

BBC Online's Matthew Allen looks at Nick Knight's return from the wilderness.

What a difference six months has made to England opener Nick Knight.

Surplus to requirements for all three losses against Sri Lanka in March following a year out with injury, the Warwickshire man must have doubted he would make it to the World Cup in 2003.

He was given the chance to redeem himself in the eyes of the selectors when he was called into the England set-up for the NatWest series against Australia and Pakistan two months later.

But memories of being left out of the 1999 World Cup after an untimely dip in form must have set his nerves on edge.

He needn't have worried. He proved the doubters wrong and stood out from the general gloom with scores of 84 against Australia at Bristol and 59 not out at Edgbaston against Pakistan.

Explosive

He eventually finished the six-match series with an average of 42.60, booking himself a place on the touring party to Zimbabwe in the process.

Now successive half centuries in the opening two matches of the series, and a solid knock of 41 in the third, look to have been enough to cement his place in England's one-day squad.

It seems strange that one of the most talented one-day players in England should have to sweat on his inclusion in the World Cup.

Marcus Trescothick replaced Knight last year

A total of 2,276 runs at an average of 41.38, including three centuries and three 50s mostly opening the innings, would seem to make him an obvious pick.

The 31-year-old made an explosive start to limited overs internationals, smashing 113 followed by an unbeaten 125 against Pakistan in his first series in 1996.

The dashing left-hander quickly became a fixture in the one-day side despite a faltering Test career.

But then his form deserted him at the crucial moment, weeks before the 1999 World Cup.

Still, his exclusion from the squad still raised eyebrows.

The choice of his replacement as opening batsman, Nasser Hussain, caused even more surprise.

Banish ghosts

A broken finger and swollen knee last year saw Knight lose the opening spot again, this time to the emerging Marcus Trescothick.

The Somerset man seized his opportunity against West Indies and Zimbabwe with plenty of aplomb.

And by the time injury forced Knight to miss the ICC Knockout Trophy in Kenya later that summer, Trescothick was England's premier left-handed opening batsman.

Knight's services were not required for the winter tour of Pakistan, and he was left on the sidelines in Sri Lanka despite flying out to join the one-day side.

Ironically, it was an injury to Hussain, the man who originally supplanted him from the one-day side, that let him in again.

And he has taken his chance to form an opening partnership with Trescothick that may help to erase the painful memory of a year in the wilderness and banish the ghost of the 1999 World Cup.