Formula One has always been a pastime associated with glitz and glamour, fine champagne being sprayed around with abandon and blue-chip sponsors flocking to join Bernie Ecclestone's empire.

Yet, in recent times, there have been plenty of signs that the days of excessive spending have vanished. Once again, as we approach tomorrow's US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, the sport's ruling body, the FIA, has harped on incessantly about the need for "urgent cost-cutting measures". This follows the subsidence into administration of two of the grid's unheralded teams, Caterham and Marussia.

It's part of a familiar exercise in F1 and any other pursuit where the elite are trying to persuade their critics that they don't simply want to persist with a cosy little clique. But it doesn't really wash. The more that certain parties insist that 'We're all in this together", the more they are effectively washing their hands of any problems.

Cricket finds itself in the same position. During the last decade, the ICC has striven to assist the Associate members in climbing up the pecking order. Yet all the while the game's leading powers - India, Australia and England - have also done their best to ensure that Ireland, for instance, don't aim too high, too soon. As in the grand prix realm, the consequences have been thoroughly unhelpful to the development of the so-called minnows.

And now, where do we stand? The West Indies, who used to dominate the globe with bat and ball, have withdrawn from a tour of India and risked financial oblivion. Some of their best players don't seem interested in representing their country and appear to prefer turning out in the Indian Premier League.

With the World Cup looming into view in Australia and New Zealand next year, the last thing the ICC needs is less competition among the traditional Test sides.

F1 might pride itself on speed and Test cricket on its slow-burning ability to build from a somnolent start to a pyrotechnic climax. But anybody who savours these twin pursuits should be concerned at how they are both veering down a dead-end road.

In F1, despite all Ecclestone's efforts to expand the list of challengers, the same old names routinely take centre stage. Ferrari have struggled in the last three seasons, but what wouldn't Caterham give for their travails? McLaren have been exposed by their rivals during the same period, but they are still in a happy place compared to Marussia.

The optimists might retort that this season has been more exciting than the last one, which was so utterly dominated by Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull that the revs quickly turned to big zeds. But all the tinkering and toying with the regulations and interventions by the FIA can't disguise one huge reality: the grand prix business is a giant money pit. It might be possible to trim a few thousand pounds here and there, but no driver or sponsor wants to be associated with a team which is trailing home in 22nd place in every race or, worse still, failing to finish on a regular basis.

In which light, we can ignore the fact that the FIA remains determined to introduce a cost cap in 2015. As his American hosts might gently remind Ecclestone, you get what you pay for in the task of creating a championship car. It can't be done on the cheap, via penny-pinching methods, or through raw enthusiasm, or by hiring unproven drivers. Ferrari know that. So do McLaren, Mercedes, Renault and Red Bull. Yet, once you scratch beneath the surface, how many of the current F1 organisations are capable of vying for points, let alone taking the chequered flag? Five or six at best.

Cricket is in the same disarray. I watched a programme last week which was looking ahead to the World Cup and where the former New Zealand star, Jeremy Coney, cast his gaze over the potential champions from the 14 participants. It wasn't difficult.

We can discount Ireland, Scotland, the UAE, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh: they will try hard and might even claim a scalp or two along the road, but they are not credible contenders to lift the trophy.

That leaves us with eight, or at least it does if the Windies can extricate themselves from their present mire, which isn't a gimme.

It's not time for the funeral notices just yet. But no amount of cost-cutting is going to transform the culture in F1 and no creation of new Twenty20 tournaments is likely to bring the have-nots closer to the haves. It's the opposite in fact.

The petrolheads and Lord's brigade may scoff. They should desist. Other sports have slipped into irrelevance in the past. And it can happen again.