Andrew Flintoff dared to do it in Mumbai. Sourav Ganguly reciprocated a year later on the Lord’s balcony of all places.
But generally the tearing off of shirts in celebration is left to footballers. Flintoff even later apologised for his chest-baring antics saying “it was 10 seconds of madness” and that he even “got a bit of stick for it in the dressing room. Sorry.”
Cricket was, after all, the gentleman’s game.
But that was 2006. It’s now 2020: The year when a record 86 174 people turned up at the MCG to watch the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup final between Australia and India.
Cricket is certainly no longer the domain of “the gentleman” anymore. Neither is it reserved for the privileged few, especially not solely for those whose pigmentation is lighter than others particularly in South Africa.
So, when Andile Phehlukwayo raised his right hand and removed his shirt after taking Heinrich Klaasen’s wicket in the 3TC Solidarity Cup match to showcase a “Black Lives Matter” logo emblazoned on his chest he certainly would not need to apologise to his teammates afterwards in the SuperSport Park dressing room.
In fact, this could easily be the most influential moment in the game in our country since Clive Rice walked out to toss at a heaving Eden Gardens back in 1991 and Phehlukwayo deserves all the applause for it.
It showed a young black man, who had grown up with Lungi Ngidi and would personally have felt the victimisation of his friend over the past couple of weeks, display the courage to take a stand for a just cause he believed in.
Cricket SA have been under the microscope the past fortnight after the bubbling volcano of racism and disunity in the sport they govern erupted.
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A post shared by Andile Phehlukwayo(@andile_phehlukwayo) on Jul 18, 2020 at 9:08am PDT
And all eyes were focused firmly on them and broadcaster SuperSport on Saturday in the first live televised cricket event to be held since Covid-19 brought a screeching halt to the game in South Africa back in March.
Both did plenty of stuff right. Female presenter Crystal Arnold welcomed everyone before President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the opening message. An emotive clip narrated by former President Nelson Mandela followed with the overwhelming message being “Sport has the power to change the world.”
The clip included footage of sportspeople around the world taking a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
All three teams, including support staff and commentators involved in the 3TC Solidarity Cup match followed suit after the national anthem played.
A significant image was former Test captain Graeme Smith kneeling alongside Makhaya Ntini just a day after the iconic fast bowler broke down in tears after revealing his “loneliness” while in the Proteas team.
Ntini and Smith, who is now Cricket SA’s Director of Cricket, later joined forces in the commentary box and the duo shared a unique moment when Thando Ntini - Makhaya’s son - was introduced into the attack.
Makhaya: “Will you look after him (Thando), Graemy?”
Smith: “Definitely”
It was significant for Ntini was placing his son’s future in the trust of someone that may previously have let him down.
All the players also wore Black Lives Matter armbands, while Tabraiz Shamsi, who was one of the first Proteas to publicly support Ngidi, took it a step further by shaving “BLM” into his hair. These were all welcoming gestures.
The road ahead remains long for Cricket SA and all its stakeholders to make the sport fully inclusive. It requires sincerity much like what Michael Holding, Ebony Rainford-Brent and Nasser Hussain displayed last week on Sky Sports ahead of the first Test between England and West Indies.
SuperSport may have missed a trick not to get Ntini, Ashwell Prince or perhaps Hashim Amla to share their stories of why Black Lives Matter in the build-up or at halftime. Instead we were treated to a show from pop star Sho Madjozi.
Equally Arnold could have been utilised as a commentator and not only as build-up presenter. That would have been a powerful statement for gender equality.
I can only hope these issues will be discussed behind closed doors for the road ahead remains a long and winding one for Cricket SA and its premier broadcaster.