Knight out to help England to success at home T20 World Cup

England batter Heather Knight has declared herself fit and ready to help her side to a second ICC Women's T20 World Cup title on home soil later this year.

Knight hasn't featured at T20I level since she badly hurt her hamstring against the West Indies in Chelmsford in May last year, with the former England skipper forced to sit out the most recent home summer in a bid to return to full fitness.

The 35-year-old showed glimpses of her best when scoring 288 runs at last year's ICC Women's Cricket World Cup and the stylish right-hander now wants to turn those efforts into some consistent showings in the shortest format when the next edition of the T20 World Cup commences in England and Wales on June 12.

"I feel in a good place," Knight said at a Schools Cricket Day event in London on Thursday that marked 50 days to go until the start of the T20 World Cup.

"Ultimately, playing cricket for me and time in the middle is the best way for me to get ready to perform this summer. I've managed to get a few games for Somerset and hopefully (I'll have) a few more.

"But for me, I guess at 35 as well and having my hamstring go 'ping' last year, it's making sure I'm getting enough cricket. I love playing for Somerset as well, but also getting myself fresh and in a place where I can hopefully perform for England in this summer."

Knight will get the chance to show her capabilities when England host New Zealand in six white-ball matches (three ODIs and three T20Is) next month, while the side are also scheduled to play India in a trio of T20I contests prior to their T20 World Cup opener against Sri Lanka in Birmingham on June 12.

The series against New Zealand will be England's first since last year's 50-over world Cup and Knight believes the matches will provide selectors with a chance to finalise their squad of 15 for the T20 World Cup.

"I know there's reasons why we haven't (played internationally), and I think it's just making the most of the situation we're in and trying to give us the best prep for obviously what's a huge competition," she said.

"It's certainly given a wider group of players a chance to state their claim and there's certainly been that competitiveness and lots of people fighting it out for different positions. You certainly feel like you're on your toes."

And while Knight was at the helm as captain of England the last time the side won a major women's ICC tournament on home soil - the 2017 50-over World Cup - the former skipper believes the interest levels are even greater now and the chance to hold aloft another trophy would prove a massive boost for the game.

"To be honest, I didn't really see the sort of overnight flip in women's cricket becoming mainstream and I think there's a lot of reasons for that," Knight said.

"Maybe the infrastructure wasn't quite there. The plan to get women's cricket and grow it and build it probably wasn't there.

"There was a great moment and everyone had a buzz around women's cricket and then it seemed to disappear a little bit and obviously without the professional domestic structure below as well, you didn't have the scaffolding to make the most of that success and that opportunity.

"But it does feel like this, where the game is at now, is so different, isn't it? The professional set-up, the opportunity for girls to play cricket, the pathway is definitely there and the visibility, not just in World Cups, but in all the games that we play as England players and as domestic players. So I do think that this tournament is going to be set up to be huge from the start."