Recently we have been awash with witty pomp, pageantry and panoply, so much so that it has surely whetted the appetite for more extravaganzas, particularly from the realms of sport, to lighten our darkness from the economic gloom that we are told lays ahead.

OK , so Putin may assemble what is left of his military hardware and applaud his dwindling number of synchronised goose stepping troops from his annual Red Square parade, American cheerleaders twirl their batons, Brazilians celebrate their Mardi Gras and the Chinese dance the night away dressed up as dragons.

But nothing beats the British flair for putting on a show. Which is why we need something to look forward to in the coming decade - also another sporting biggie would be perfect to show off Britain’s wares.

Don’t it seem curious that the original home of football - and now of the richest and most successful league in the world - has only ever staged the World Cup once, and that was 57 years ago when England won it.

Not being for the want of trying less English, Indian, British popularity with the worlds top sports governing bodies is on a par among the voting public in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Second from bottom in Liverpool last weekend was yet another example of the antipathy shown by other nations towards the UK by rival nations.

This seems to be happening with the World Cup too, despite the patronage of royalty - and not to mention David Beckham - it has been a case of null points when England’s name cropped up among the denizens of FIFA.

The earliest England could host another tournament is 2030 but we should be in there lobbying furiously now. The next World Cup in 2026 will be fragmented, spread among three nations - Canada, Mexico and the United States. Let’s see how that works.

A number of bids are already being prepared by a number of nations for 2030, notably Morocco, Spain and Portugal. So why not England? We have done it once - and it’s time to do it again.

The trouble is apart from the lack of empathy for England, there appears to be no political muscle fighting our corner.

No Hugh Robertson, Richard Caborn or Tessa Jowell to press the flesh and bend the ears.

We do have another Sports Minister- about the fifth in as many years by my reckoning - but his name escapes most of us.

We are told he is gay which is something of a relief as the way of the political world is such these days as he might have been trans.

So all systems go for the World Cup here in 2030? That is, if FIFA, buoyed by that in Qatar last year, have not already earmarked it for Vanuatu or the Falklands!

If all else fails, there's always another Olympic Games. And why not?

London may have had three already - 1908, 1948 and 2012 - but practice makes perfect and there is no doubt that 2012 was as good as any - if not better- than any before or since.

We have the know-how, the infrastructure and the incentive to recapture the spirit of 2012, if not 1966 and all that.

With the next three Summer Olympics already spoken for (Paris in 2024, Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032), 2036 is the first available option for another Games in London. Let’s go for it.

True, we have had another sports festival in England since 2012 - the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. However much of the euphoria emanating from this well-organised event evaporated in the post-pandemic blues.

As enjoyable as the Commonwealth Games may be, they're not the Olympics, and never will be.

While we await the outcome of any British bid for the big prize, we have an interesting summer of sport with the Ashes and the return of the Russians to Wimbledon.

Hard to say who will be the most vilified - the boorish Aussies or Putin’s racketeers?

Meantime let’s start banging the drums and bring on the bearskins. There’s no business like show business - and if there is no show there is no business.