On the face of things British sport appears to be in rude health. Ever since BSkyB and the Labour government decided that sport would be the vehicle to win the hearts and minds of the British public, it’s been boom time in Britain.

Is the bubble about to burst both on and off the pitch? As Northern Rock, bank and major contributor to sport in the North East felt the credit pinch, Gordon Brown’s assertion that the days of ‘boom or bust’ were a thing of the past seemed as realistic as England’s chance of winning the Rugby World Cup.

Oh how the mighty have fallen! British rugby is a perfect illustration of the sporting decline on this sceptred Isle.

Having been on top of the world, following England’s victory at the 2003 World Cup the house of cards has encountered the strong winds of change.

The clubs prosper with healthy crowds and seemingly deeper pockets to spend on players, but this has become nothing more than a fragile facade propped up by globalisation.

The massive influx of foreign talent into British sport, and our unquenchable thirst for entertainment, rather than participation has left a great chasm of talent to take onto the world stage. Britain has become like the Roman Empire, holding great games at huge colosseums packed with talent from around the globe but ‘beware the Ides of March’.

If the British press are to be believed, the England football team are suddenly cured of their incompetence having beaten Israel and Russia consecutively. Given the comparative strengths of the opposition’s national leagues though this should never have been in question.

The money available to invest in young players should be producing a great torrent of British talent. Instead the academies are a finishing school for the rest of the world.

Cricket likewise is suffering. Sky money has rejuvenated the county game with thoughtful development and innovation. Yet the domestic game is awash with foreign players, either as official overseas or Kolpak players.

England’s best batsman is a South African, and whilst that is not necessarily a bad thing, why is the British system not developing it’s own players of this calibre?

The ECB must be applauded for restricting the number of foreign players for next season, but until they find a way to close the Kolpak loop-hole, not much will change.

Glamorgan tried to take the moral high ground and employed only one overseas for 2007, with no Kolpak players. Whilst it has allowed talents like fast bowler James Harris to come through, it also meant Glamorgan sunk to the bottom of Division 2.

We are becoming a sedentary nation, happy to be entertained by others. The Premier League has become the International billionaires’ playground, and the masses are happy to line their pockets further, as clubs become more important than the good of the national collective.

Only 40% of players in the Premier League are eligible to play for British teams, and Rugby’s Guinness Premiership is about to become awash with southern hemisphere players seeking a fat pay cheque before retirement.

We must decide whether we want to be participants or watchers of sport. At the moment the pound signs continue to blur the reality of the situation.

It is argued that the foreign talent raises the standard and this argument has great merit, but where are the next generation of British hero’s going to come from.

Will Britain’s children grow happy to pay to watch the rest of the World, and what happens when (not if) the money dries up?