Dates - varchar to a date format

[sqlclueless]

Hi

I have a varchar field that contains a date entry and sometimes has a time. such as:
01-August-2008 10:00am
or just
21-December-2007

I need these to be converted into a date format so that i can add them to my where clause to say show me the record where the date is within the next 2 days. (i dont actually care about the time and i could get rid of the time before its used in the field if that makes it easier)

Please help.

[legendx]

CAST('myField' as date) and cross your fingers

[chazzy]

you need to tell us what DBMS you're using.

[sqlclueless]

My database is sql server 2000

ta