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{ Time running out for skipper Moody(UKPA) – 55 minutes ago

Lewis Moody will have until the end of Tuesday to prove he is ready to resume the captaincy and lead England into battle against RBS 6 Nations title rivals France.

The Bath flanker returned to action at the weekend with a 23-minute cameo off the bench against Northampton after five weeks out nursing knee ligament damage. While Mike Tindall captained England in their opening two victories over Wales and Italy, Moody always maintained Saturday's showdown with France was a realistic target.

England manager Martin Johnson plans to finalise his selection on Tuesday and the indications are that Moody will be involved at Twickenham.

But Johnson still has to be convinced his captain is ready to start such a pivotal Test match, where the only two remaining unbeaten sides go head-to-head.

"We are hoping he is going to be in the right place to be able to participate on Saturday," Johnson said. "We will know a little more on Tuesday and name the team for the players."

France coach Marc Lievremont lit the blue touch-paper ahead of 'Le Crunch' with an anti-English outburst in which he branded Johnson's team as the most-hated in the championship.

When Wales coach Warren Gatland launched some verbal grenades at England in the build-up to the opening game of Six Nations, Johnson suggested he was acting like a man under pressure. And England have laughed off Lievremont's jibe, with fly-half Toby Flood revealing the squad interpreted the special attention as a back-handed compliment.

"Maybe he was trying to unsettle us, I don't know. It shows people are taking notice of us and asking questions about how we are playing," Flood said.

Whatever impression other countries have of Johnson's England, Flood insisted they are not arrogant enough to believe they are anywhere near the finished article. This time last year, England opened their campaign with two victories but failed to win another match.

"I don't think we are getting too far ahead of ourselves. We have had a couple of good performances," Flood said. "This is the biggest Test match we have had in a long time. Only one side can leave it with the chance of a Grand Slam."

Copyright © 2011 The Press Association. All rights reserved.

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As trip wires go, it lacks the element of surprise. But the fact that England have fallen flat on their faces once before when confronted by the Dutch national cricket team is no guarantee against them again coming a cropper in Nagpur today.

"It underlines the point that you cannot underestimate teams like the Netherlands," said captain Andrew Strauss when asked about England's last-ball Lord's loss to the men in orange during the 2009 World Twenty20. "They have played a lot of cricket now and are a side with some obvious strengths. We need to be good enough to overcome those. If we are 10 per cent off and they have a good day, we're in trouble."

Bas Zuiderent, the former Sussex and now the Netherlands' most experienced batsman, agreed. "There is massive belief in our team that we can beat them," he said.

Whatever happens today, England's attempt to win the World Cup at the 10th time of asking will not be made or marred. Such is the format of this competition that big boys can lose to lesser lights at the group stage and still finish in a top four qualifying spot.

Being beaten, however, would leave only the minimum of margin for further error. And, in any event, a team that quietly fancies its chances of spreading a thick layer of icing on top of that perfectly created Ashes cake should not just put the Dutch in their place but do so with some style.

New Zealand, thumping Kenya by 10 wickets, Sri Lanka – crushing Canada by 210 runs – and Australia, overpowering the Zimbabweans, showed the sort of ruthlessness that has generally eluded England when up against small fry. Embarrassing losses have been few and far between but, generally, they make heavy weather of their task and, as a result, confidence levels take a hit.

England will hope to avoid any nervous moments today. But as for their chances of making a real impact over the next six weeks, it is difficult to know whether to feel optimistic about their prospects or simply resigned to witnessing another disappointing campaign to follow those let-downs of 1996, 1999, 2003 and 2007.

The captain is not one for finding his way onto the nearest rooftop and then shouting the odds. He spoke in measured terms before the Ashes series and did so again last night.

"Everyone is fit and healthy and ready to go," said Strauss, who indicated that a decision over whether to play No 1 spinner and new father Graeme Swann against the Dutch would be left until this morning. Swann arrived in India on Sunday following his paternity leave but the rest of the party were together in Bangladesh for a week.

"The six days we had there were really good in terms of preparation for the tournament. We were quite buoyed by our performance against Pakistan [a 67-run, warm-up match victory to follow the considerably less impressive 16-run win over Canada]. "It was a frustrating two or three weeks in Australia [losing the one-day series 6-1], with some key performers injured at the wrong time and not playing smart cricket. So it was reassuring to play the way we did against Pakistan."

Stuart Broad – bursting with energy and intent once again after having his Ashes tour cut short by injury – was the star act of those two practice games, taking five wickets in each. And Matt Prior produced a pair of promising innings at No 6. But the main talking point has been Kevin Pietersen's new job at the top of the order, a role which will continue to attract attention for as long as England remain in the tournament.

England have done very little to make opponents sit up and take notice during the last four World Cup campaigns (we can probably discount the tactic of opening the bowling with spinner Richard Illingworth in the 1996 quarter-final against Sri Lanka as he went for 72 off 10 overs and the game was lost with nine overs to spare). But the Pietersen ploy will cause a bit of head scratching.

It should not matter too much either way whether Pietersen piles in against the Dutch today. But if he can get a real feel for the job – and there were signs that he was doing that while making 66 against Pakistan last week – then England could be on to something (as they were when Ian Botham opened with a fair amount of success during the 1992 tournament).

There is plenty to be said for opening the batting in one-day cricket when the ball is hard and the field is up. But knowing when to attack and when to defend has not always come easily to Pietersen, to put it mildly, so watching him trying to weigh up situations should be fascinating.

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{ ABOVE: Paul Collingwood is running into form hitting 65 and taking three wickets in win over Pakistan GRAEME SWANN has his sights set on World Cup glory but admits: I wouldn?t swap it for the Ashes.

England?s world-class spinner has recovered from a back complaint and travels to India today after missing the warm-up games. The Nottinghamshire ace, who became a dad for the first time on Thursday, was a key figure in England?s 3-1 Ashes triumph and last year?s World Twenty20 win. And while he would love to add the 50-over World Cup to his bulging trophy cabinet, Swann knows where the tournament fits in his pecking order. ?The World Cup is important because it?s a global event,? he said. ?It?s the ultimate one-day competition, the biggest 50-over event we play. ?But from my perspective as an England player it?s nowhere near as big as the Ashes.? Swann is one of several England stars whose bodies struggled to cope with the demands of the 100 day long tour Down Under. Bowlers Tim Bresnan (calf), Ajmal Shahzad (hamstring) and Stuart Broad (side) have all faced a race to be fit for the World Cup after picking up niggles in Oz. Star batsman Eoin Morgan was last week ruled out with a damaged thumb, although the injury is not as bad as first feared, and Swann reckons his will be the hardest boots to fill. ?If Eoin Morgan hadn?t been ruled out of the World Cup, he would have been recognised as the best one-day player on the planet,? Swann said. With Morgan gone, England?s batting hopes lie even more heavily on Kevin Pietersen?s broad shoulders. Big hitter KP (right) has been shifted up the order to open alongside skipper Andrew Strauss, following the failed experiment with Matt Prior. While to some the move smacks of desperation, former England bowler Matthew Hoggard believes it could pay off. ?KP has always said that he can?t just go out and slog, he actually needs to build an innings,? Hoggard said. ?You could say it?s a lack of foresight, but it could be a little bit of genius. ?Nobody?s going to think of KP opening the batting. ?Teams are going to have to think on their feet. ?I?m sure the plan hasn?t just come out of nowhere. ?If it comes off they?re going to look absolutely fantastic. ?But if it doesn?t, questions will be asked.? While England?s 6-1 one-day series defeat in Oz hit their confidence hard, the return of players of Swann and Broad?s calibre can only boost their chances. Broad has made an immediate impact on his return, with 10 wickets in two warm-up games against Canada and Pakistan. He produced another electric burst yesterday to finish with 5-25 as England beat Pakistan by 67 runs. Pietersen struck 66 and Paul Collingwood 65 as England clocked up 273 and bowled out Pakistan for 206. Hosts India face Bangladesh in Dhaka today in the opening clash of the tournament before England kick-off against Holland on Tuesday. Despite the chaotic nature of their build-up, Broad insists England can still deliver. ?It?s very special to be involved in such big matches and tournaments,? he said. ?With a team like we have and the belief we have in our team we stand a decent chance.?

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In an article on Sports Illustrated titled "It's time for someone to depose Sepp Blatter as FIFA's leader" journalist Grant Wahl has announced his intentions to run for FIFA's presidency.

Current FIFA president Sepp Blatter is running for his fourth term, with elections falling on June 1. Wahl has focused his campaign as a FIFA outsider, with a potential slogan of "Cure the Blatter infection." He also dismisses potential competition from Qatar's Mohamed Bin Hammam as the inclusion of yet another insider incapable of the drastic revamping the world's soccer governing body needs.

"It gets kind of old hearing the world's soccer fans complain about Blatter without anyone trying to provide an alter­native," Wahl said in the article. "And make no mistake, FIFA needs to change."

Besides positioning himself as an outsider (Wahl does make sure to mention that three of FIFA's eight presidents were sports journalists), the author of "The Beckham Experiment" outlined his platform with a series of promises:

1. Video review for unclear goal-line calls.
2. No more limitations of referees per country in the World Cup, to ensure the best - not merely the most diverse - group officiates soccer's biggest stage. Furthermore, that referees must defend controversial calls to the media following games.
3. Taking off one's shirt will no longer be a yellow card offense.
4. A woman will serve as the secretary general.
5. All of FIFA's internal documents will be released to the public "WikiLeaks-style" and an external investigation will be commissioned to hound out the rampant corruption.
6. FIFA presidents, including himself, will be limited to two four-year terms.

As it stands, Wahl, at 37, has only seen two FIFA presidents in his lifetime. Incumbent Blatter is 74.

FIFA's presidency is voted on by member nations, with each country holding one vote. For Wahl to be eligible, one member nation must nominate him by April 1.

Though the April Fools' Day deadline and tongue-in-cheek tone of the video accompanying the article might suggest parody, Wahl maintains his legitimacy: "No, I'm not kidding."

Given the inherent corruption Wahl purports to take on, actual victory in the election is unlikely for the American. He'd likely content himself if any of the points in his platform are absorbed by the competing candidates and seep into the game in the near future.

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