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It wasn't just the clothing that distinguished cricket as a white sport in New Zealand.
You could count the number of Maori and Pacific Island players that had made a big impact on the summer pastime through New Zealand's cricket history on the fingers of one hand.
That appears to be slowly, but surely, changing. It's too early to call it a trend but some of the names filtering through into the first-class game, and on its fringes, indicate this white sport is taking on a tinge of brown.
The most obvious example is part-Samoan Ross Taylor who is blazing his way to what many judges believe will be a long and successful international career. Daryl Tuffey carved out a trail before him and is still hopeful of making a return to international cricket before his career ends. Jesse Ryder, too, has been a fixture on the first-class scene for the past four seasons.
Tama Canning, before he played seppuku with his career, was an Auckland regular and an international sporadically.
But it's the other names sprinkling through and knocking at the edges of the domestic scene that are the best pointer to the fact that cricket could yet become popular in previously untapped communities.
Names like Te Ahu Davis in Northern Districts, a 21-year-old fast bowler (no relation to Heath).
There's allrounder Brandon Hiini in Canterbury who has made great progress this year. Two other allrounders - Wellington's Ronald Karaitiana (middle name Punaoteoranga) and Otago's Kieran Noema-Barnett - are pushing for inclusion in their provinces.
But potentially the most exciting talent is Auckland batsman Dave Wiremu Houpapa, West Australia-born but King Country in heritage.
He's had an interesting introduction to State Shield cricket this year. His bat more often resembles a broadsword but there were no clues in his early innings (7 not out, 1 and 15) to suggest he'd be able to leather Wellington around the Cake Tin to the tune of 101 off 89 balls, including seven sixes. He again tormented Wellington in the State Shield semifinal, his 66 the top, and decisive, innings of the match.
Auckland coach Mark O'Donnell said it was Lou Vincent who initially alerted him to the talents of Houpapa. "Lou said 'there's a kid at Tak[apuna] that can hit a ball', though he tended to hit across it a little bit back then," O'Donnell said.
Houpapa featured in yesterday's final against Otago, but O'Donnell cautioned that it would take at least two years of solid run-scoring at first-class level before he could be considered for a step up. "The ball just hits the bat that much harder the higher you go. It takes time, particularly for hitters, to adjust."
The reasons Maori and Pacific Islanders have never embraced cricket have been guessed at, but never fully developed.
Anthropologists would probably have a field day with it, suggesting Maori saw cricket as an oppressive symbol of colonialism. But that never put off the Indians or those in the Caribbean who instead saw cricket as a great way of legitimately beating their overlords.
Martin Crowe once received a lot of flak for suggesting that they didn't necessarily have the concentration span to play a five-day test. While the claim might have been based on questionable assumptions, it is nevertheless a commonly held belief.
Perhaps the most obvious explanation for the lack of Maori in cricket is that lower socio-economic communities had less access to the game. Cricket gear is comparatively expensive compared to a rugby ball and boots.
It is something the players have recognised and have aimed to rectify with their Hooked on Cricket programme.
Started two years ago, the New Zealand Community Trust-sponsored programme expanded this year into four centres that are rich in sporting talent but low on cricket participation.
"Cricket for too long has failed to reach into new communities or socio-economic groups," Players' Association manager Heath Mills said. "We do expect to see a translation from our programme into organised cricket participation numbers."
They have not, however, put any time limit on when they expect to see that increase in numbers translate into the first-class or international arenas, but they remain hopeful it will happen.
"The response we've got from the communities we've been to has been outstanding. You take some Black Caps and domestic cricketers into the heart of south Auckland, into Porirua, into Rotorua; these kids have never seen these players before, let alone played a game of cricket with them. The response in these communities has been absolutely brilliant."
The players this season also went into Aranui in Christchurch and next season they hope to expand again into untapped territory in Central Districts and Otago. "We don't expect everyone that turns up to those six-a-side days to take up cricket and play it for the rest of their lives but we'll get some kids from each of those days following it up and taking it further."
New Zealand Cricket, too, has recognised the importance of growing the game.
NZC said it was a stated objective of NZC to get more Maori and Pacific Islanders involved in the game but the initiative was still in its infancy.
