Nicholas Verity Knight

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Nick Knight started his career at Essex in 1991, and although he performed well, it took him until 1994 to claim a regular batting spot in a strong side. A good start in 1995 for his new county Warwickshire earned Knight a debut in the home Test series with West Indies. Successive centuries in one-day games against Pakistan in 1996 Texaco hinted at what was to come.

After being dropped from the Test side following a broken finger on the 1997 tour of New Zealand, Knight was viewed primarily as a one-day player. His average remained impressive, and his big scores at the top of the order helped England win several tournaments. Coming into the 1999 Carlton & United series in Australia, he averaged almost 50, ranking third in the all-time list. But his form then dipped, and despite 84 in Sharjah against India, he was dropped and failed to make an appearance in the 1999 World Cup.

Knight was recalled to the Test side in the summer of 2000, playing against Zimbabwe and twice against the West Indies before being dropped again. The highlight of his Test career came in Bulawayo at the end of 1996 when he smashed 96 runs off 117 balls as England chased 205 for victory. He was run out off the last ball of the game, going for the winning run. It was the first time a Test match had been drawn with the scores level, and Knight was named man of the match.

By 2001, it appeared that a pattern had emerged in Knight's international career. Indispensable in the one-day game, yet only called up for the Test side in an emergency. This was the case at Old Trafford for the second Test against Pakistan. Coming into the side to replace the injured Nasser Hussain, he did not really convince while scoring 15 in the first innings, and was out first ball in the second. To compound matters Knight, who is regarded as one of the best slip fielders in the game, dropped two comparatively simple chances.

It was his last Test appearance of the summer, yet he blossomed in the one-day internationals, both at home and on the tour to Zimbabwe that followed. Combining well with Marcus Trescothick, Knight took the attack to the bowlers with sound, aggressive strokeplay, and in Zimbabwe he was made Man of the Series. He took some time to get going in India; in fact it was not until the fourth ODI that he found his touch with an innings of 74, followed by his fourth century at this level. He finished with a nought, but found New Zealand very much to his liking, averaging over 44 in five innings with a top score of 80 and no not outs to boost his average and to cement his place at the top of the order. Much as he would like to re-establish himself in the Test side, it may well be that his international future is confined to the one-day game.

Even in that form of cricket, doubts emerged during the summer of 2002 when he was in prolific form for Warwickshire but failed to register a fifty in the seven matches of the NatWest Series against India and Sri Lanka. He failed against Zimbabwe in the ICC Champions Trophy, but did make fifty against India in that competition and gained inclusion among the specialist one-day players for that section of the Australian tour.

Knight, a product of Felsted School like several other international sportsmen, was also a fine hockey player, having turned out for Essex and Young England before devoting himself to cricket.