It was an international effort that led finally to the dismantling of apartheid in the 1990s. Last month, a day at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo, when Prince was preparing for his first Test as captain, showed the returns of Mahmood’s faith in cricket. South African team manager Goolam Rajah recalled the anger of people of colour within his country: “We would say, we can’t play normal sport in an abnormal society.”

That anger is still palpable. Even as he prepared to lead his side against a resurgent Sri Lanka, Prince admitted: “I know people personally who tell me: we hope you do well, but we don’t care what happens to the team. That’s the one thing I’d like to change as captain.”

As C.L.R. James wrote, “A national hero must have a nation.” So the acute sensitivity of South Africans who’d once been segregated because of the colour of their skin. It’s a sentiment caught in a remark by Makhaya Ntini, the first black player to come into the South African team from the “development” programme, that he particularly likes to play in the West Indies: “I look left and right, and I see black people watching.”

Jones showed this week how distant the commentary box has become from the crowds. It fails to see the action on the field in a social and political context. And for our cricketing boards, ever enthused to reap the dividends of telecast rights by taking the game to new venues — never mind the disconnect between spectators and the teams — it should serve as a reminder. To invoke James again, what do they know of cricket who only cricket know?