England enter this winter's World Cup with low public expectations of lifting the trophy but high hopes among the squad that they can become the first English side ever to win the tournament.

Bookmakers would list Nasser Hussain's squad well behind hosts South Africa, holders Australia and probably all three of the leading sub-continent sides Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India - not to mention New Zealand.

Certainly the evidence presented during their last two World Cup campaigns, suffering a humiliating quarter-final defeat by Sri Lanka in 1996 and crashing out of their own tournament at the first stage in 1999, would suggest they are unlikely to be involved in the final shake-up.

Unlike most of the other competing nations, they do lack experience with only veteran wicketkeeper Alec Stewart having made more than 100 appearances at this level.

They also lack that nucleus of players capable of changing a game quickly - an important factor in any team's chances of success in the World Cup, similar to the way Shane Warne influenced the last tournament or the manner in which Sanath Jayasuriya propelled Sri Lanka to victory in 1996.

Yet for all the weaknesses in their challenge England have assembled a squad full of young, athletic and hungry players who have bonded as a team since they first came together last winter in Zimbabwe.

Their introduction followed a record-breaking run of 11 consecutive defeats, including all six matches during the triangular series with Australia and Pakistan. England have struggled to find any consistency since too, but at least their results have improved.

That upturn in fortunes over the last year has given England's squad a quiet confidence - despite their tough start to the ongoing VB Series in Australia - that they can at least challenge for the trophy in South Africa.

Even veteran campaigner Stewart, at 39 the only surviving member of the 1992 England World Cup team which lost to Pakistan in the final at Melbourne, appears to have been caught up in the squad's enthusiasm and believes the present vintage could eclipse the efforts of a decade previously.

"The 1992 side would be the best I have played in for one-day cricket, but I'd like to think this one can be better," said Stewart during the ICC knockout tournament in Colombo last October.

"I base that on what we saw last summer. We lost in the final of the triangular tournament to a particularly good Indian batting side, but even then I started to think we were getting the hang of one-day cricket - I think certain individuals have taken a pace forward at this level."

Given that the 1992 side included such luminaries as Ian Botham and Graham Gooch, the present England side are certainly going to have to make major strides forward if they are to overcome expectations and progress to the World Cup final in Johannesburg on March 23.

Their first major challenge is to progress from a qualifying group which will be far from easy - with holders Australia, 1999 runners-up Pakistan and India to negotiate just to avoid the embarrassment of exiting at the first stage for the second successive World Cup.

They are at least fortunate in that their opening three matches are against the lesser opposition in the group, starting with Zimbabwe in Harare - provided the political situation is resolved to improve the safety situation.

They then play Holland and Namibia, the two minnows of the group, in quick succession and would hope to claim two wins to leave themselves in a strong position as they prepare to face the three strongest teams in the group.

Pakistan, soundly beaten in the World Cup final by Australia four years ago, are as unpredictable as they are brilliant - and with Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis expected to bow out of cricket after this tournament they will want to finish on a high.

But perhaps their most difficult contest of the preliminary round will be yet another confrontation with India, whom they have already played 11 times since January 2002 - with their opponents enjoying the better of the recent contests.

India claimed victory in their last two contests, claiming a comprehensive eight-wicket victory in Colombo last October to end England's ICC Champions Trophy campaign and also triumphing in the final of the triangular tournament at Lord's last summer.

Those two victories alone should make them favourites in a game which England may have to win to guarantee their qualification to the Super Sixes stage of the tournament, particularly because Australia lie in wait for their final match of the preliminary round.

Yet if Stewart is right in believing England's current squad have the mentality, ability and temperament to eclipse the achievements of the 1992 vintage, the first requirement of proving his faith would be to claim an important victory in the March 2 fixture in Port Elizabeth.

A more realistic expectation, however, would simply be to qualify from the preliminary round. After the farcical campaigns in 1996 and 1999 even that would be regarded as progress as England attempt to increase their standing in world cricket at both Test and one-day level.