Knight joins an exclusive club in celebrating century

When Nick Knight walks on to St George's Park in Port Elizabeth on Sunday, for England's crucial World Cup qualifying match against Australia, he will become only the ninth English player to win 100 one-day international caps. This is a pretty exclusive club and Knight's record sits favourably with those of Alec Stewart, Graham Gooch, Allan Lamb, Graeme Hick, Ian Botham, David Gower, Darren Gough and Phillip DeFreitas, who he joins.

Although the left-hander is not the most elegant or destructive of players to watch, there is a strong case for stating that Knight, who has scored 3,607 runs at an average of 40.53, is the most successful one-day batsman this country has produced. On average there is only Dennis Amiss, who played just 18 matches, above him and on runs only four have scored more heavily.

The Warwickshire opener has picked a special match to reach this landmark and it is something which he is very much aware of. "It has worked out quite well really," Knight said. "To be playing in a massive game against Australia in the World Cup, I couldn't have asked for more and I am really looking forward to it. I have tried to enjoy every game and this has turned out to be the biggest of the lot. Looking back these 100 games have gone pretty quickly and, because we play more of them now than when I first started, the last 50 have come up a lot quicker than the first 50."

Although his Test career has failed to take off because of deficiencies in his technique, Knight's journey in the one-day game started in spectacular fashion. His debut at Old Trafford in 1996 produced nothing special but this was just a prelude for back-to-back centuries against Pakistan. The first of these was at Edgbaston, Knight's new home following his move from Essex in 1995, and the second a magnificent 125 not out at Trent Bridge which remains the highest of his five hundreds.

Despite his achievements the 33-year-old is not totally satisfied with what he has accomplished. "Yes, I have been pretty consistent since my centuries against Pakistan but I would like to have got a few more big hundreds and won more games. However, I am proud of having an average of over 40 because people use that as a benchmark. I am also pleased that in the last year and a half my strike-rate [runs per 100 balls faced] has gone up from 68 to 71 because it is an area of my game I have tried to work on. Overall, I would like to think I have done my bit for the side."

Although Knight was selected for the 1999 World Cup, he was surprisingly omitted from the final XI in a last-minute change of plan the night before England's first match against Sri Lanka. This decision hit Knight hard and provided him with the lowest point of his career. However, four years later and the table has turned. He is now an integral part of the team and the victory over Pakistan in Cape Town supplied him with his most enjoyable moment.

"The feeling of winning such a big game was fantastic," Knight said. "Now we have had a little taste of it we want more."

Unfortunately, these celebrations were followed up by a heavy defeat by India and the next morsel will be even harder to catch. If England are to have a chance of overcoming Australia it is imperative that Knight, and his opening partner Marcus Trescothick, see their team off to a good start.

This pair are one of England's strengths but so far in this tournament they have failed to fire. To date both have had disappointing World Cups – they have contributed just 151 runs and their best opening partnership is 26. Knight, however, had some encouraging words for Trescothick.

"For someone of his quality it is only a matter of time before he scores runs," Knight said. "If I were him I would not do anything different [Trescothick has been tinkering with his technique] because ultimately he is a very fine player whose strength is going at the ball and hitting the ball hard. It is this which has made him a dominant player in this form of cricket."

No doubt hoping that he can also celebrate this special day in style, he said: "There cannot be a better stage than this to go out on and score a big 100."