Vickery: Watch us take off

The 31-year-old Cornishman, who has had a 'fight to the death' slogan tattooed on one arm, responded with typical defiance to the holders being dismissed as 33-1 outsiders retain their title.

'I don't want to be remembered as the captain who gave the World Cup back for someone else to win,' he said before boarding a British Airways plane renamed Hope and Glory. 'I want to be remembered for what we do at this tournament.

I believe we have all the players we need to make a huge impact. 'We've said we are not far from our best and we're not. But we have to deliver a performance to get us to the necessary level. We keep using the word potential and talking about what a good squad we have, but now we have to deliver. 'I just hope nobody within the squad looks back when it's all over and says: "If only I'd done this or that". There must be no regrets. 'This is the global showpiece of our game and to be part of it is special.'

The low-key departure from Heathrow, in keeping with public expectation of a team beaten in 15 of their last 16 away games, was in stark contrast to the last time England assembled there on World Cup business, bringing the trophy home from Australia four years ago when 15,000 squeezed into the airport to greet the team. Vickery, one of nine survivors from the side on duty at the final in Sydney, said: 'The crowds were so great I remember seeing the policemen looking at each other and saying: "I'm not sure what we're going to do here". 'To have affected so many lives in that way was a real privilege. People still come up to me and say: "I remember what I was doing when you won it".'