WHATEVER happened to the notion of sport as simple recreation, in which those who wanted to get to the top did so largely through their own efforts without the nasty concept of money entering the equation?

In an era when the England football captain earns £100,000 a week it seems we also need an English Institute of Sport, which was launched this week with £120m of Lottery funding.

Steve Cram is the EIS's chairman and he observed: "I'm really quite envious of the services that will be available. I could only dream about them when I was running."

But why would he dream about them? He reached the top in a golden era of English middle distance running which also featured Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe.

They won medals because they were prepared to put the work in and didn't need mollycoddling by a huge back-up team catering for their every whim.

The more we pamper our sportsmen they more they fall down. Hence Gerrard and Neville out of the World Cup, Dyer doubtful and the £100,000-a-week man needing a carbon fibre-reinforced boot to protect his recently-mended metatarsal.

Cricketers are also injured in ever increasing numbers, and you can bet your life that if Darren Gough had gone down t'pit at Barnsley for a few years before becoming a fast bowler he wouldn't spend so much time recuperating in the comfort of his Buckinghamshire home.

From Barnsley to Bucks - it could almost be a metaphor for the softening of British sportsmen. Unfortunately, it starts in the formative years through being transported everywhere, and continues throughout the school years through lack of meaningful, rigorous exercise.

That's where the money needs to go - into the schools. Otherwise we are forgetting the old dictum that prevention is better than the cure.

NIALL Quinn has done his bit for the kids, although he is more concerned with easing suffering.

"If it makes players who are very wealthy think twice, good for him," said Jack Charlton, who kicked off Quinn's benefit match.

This may have been a deliberate dig at David Beckham, who spent more on hosting a pre-World Cup party than the £750,000 raised by Quinn.

The only defence of the obscenely indulgent Beckingham Palace bash is that the costs will be largely offset by the glossy magazines paying to cover it.

I don't suppose OK, Hello and Red were represented at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday, but at least the mainstream media gave Quinn all the credit he deserves.

He'd been a wild rover for many a year, but now he has life in a better perspective and it was heart-warming to see how the press and public reacted to the proof that not all footballers are totally consumed by greed.

ANOTHER appalling example of financial excesses ruining sport has again been provided by motor racing.

Ferrari have to satisfy their sponsors, which is the main reason for doing everything possible to ensure that Michael Schumacher retains the world title.

But to order your other team member to move aside with the winning line in sight after dominating qualifying and the race makes a complete mockery of sport.

If that's the way Formula One is to be conducted it doesn't deserve to be mentioned on the sports pages, and in future I declare this column a Grand Prix free zone.

WE are a nation of selectors, and we all think we know better than those charged with picking our national teams.

The experts seem to have little argument, however, with Sven's choices for the World Cup, although one A Cole showed he was no merry old soul by reacting to his omission by announcing his retirement from international football. This instantly turned him into a laughing stock.

The other A Cole, full back Ashley, is in most people's first-choice line-up and the Cole merchants will be aglow if young Joe also has a chance to shine.

The cricket selectors, on the other hand, have been getting some stick for a Dad's Army approach, and deservedly so.

It's all very well saying that winning comes first, but against a Sri Lankan attack shorn of Muralitharan it was the perfect opportunity to blood a young batsman.

The balance of the side is also wrong when against such a weak attack we will have either Flintoff or Stewart at No 8, and no spinner in the team to provide variety against a strong batting line-up.

Nor do I go along with playing Cork ahead of Tudor. Like Flintoff, Tudor is showing signs that his enormous potential can be realised now that his injury problems appear to have been sorted out.

He has been bowling fast and accurately on good Oval pitches against division one batsmen, which should count for more than Cork knocking over a few second raters at Derby.

Beating Sri Lanka at home is not enough when there is a tour to Australia next winter to be considered.