Al sports should offer ex-players a soap-box for venting when they retire. Oh, the home truths they would tell!
Brendon McCullum had that opportunity when giving his MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey lecture at Lord's this week and, like his batting style, he didn't hold back.
In the late 1990s, Colin Cowdrey and Ted Dexter, both former England captains and distinguished members of the MCC, sought to enshrine the Spirit of Cricket in the game's laws.
The Cowdrey lecture was inaugurated in 2001 in memory of Lord Cowdrey and has been delivered annually by eminent figures in world cricket.
In 2008, the Most Rev Dr Desmond Tutu gave his Cowdrey lecture and used it as an opportunity to draw commonalities between cricket and society: "When we work together, we are most likely to succeed.''
In 2006, Martin Crowe took his opportunity at Lord's to talk about the impact of technology, umpiring, "chucking'', and Twenty20 on the game he loved. His closing statement emphasised that cricket was about "enthusiasm for the game, not just aggression but also to share a sense of fun. And fun is what life is all about.''
This platform to share insights and opinions about the game key individuals have invested much of their time and energy into is also a barometer of the big issues cricket faces over time. McCullum focused on match-fixing and the treatment of players involved in investigations, criticising the ICC's approach for lacking professionalism and throwing whistle-blowers on the cricket scrap heap.
Match-fixing is a topical and pertinent issue global cricket faces, and McCullum finally got a chance to speak candidly about it. It takes courage to bite the hand that feeds you (or fed you for so long). It is difficult to focus on playing well on the pitch while also challenging the foundations that the pitch may be laid on.
All athletes should have the chance to speak honestly and constructively about a "game'' they have invested their heart and soul into. How else does an organisation get honest feedback that creates self-awareness, food for thought, and impetus for change? The public platform is also important because it cannot be censored.
Already McCullum's public speech has caused a stirring at the ICC level. Imagine what issues would be expressed by athletes in other sports if they had the opportunity?
The mind boggles at what past players might choose to share if they had the chance to in rugby union, rugby league, netball and post-Olympics.
Desmond Tutu sums up what we can learn from each other if we listen and take time to understand each others' thoughts and passions: "... in the spirit of 'ubuntu', a person is a person through other persons, that we are made for interdependence, we are made for complementarity''.
We don't have to agree with McCullum but it provokes a reaction and a response and that in itself is the beauty of words.
