Oh! Blimey it’s a Streaker!

It was another first of a different kind that Sri Lanka cricket fans witnessed on Sunday (12/09/2007) .  It was their  first streaker.  We who were at home got the first glimpse of the “whiter shade of pale” when a photo hit the masthead and the sports page of the print edition of the daily “Island” newspaper today.

The male streaker ran on to the field on the opening day  of the second Test match between England and Sri Lanka forcing play to be halted for 3 minutes. The unidentified man, took two cartwheels on the field as gob smacked fans looked on and apparently returned to the stand where local police, probably speechless too escorted him out of the Sinhalese Sports Club.

The question this morning as I had breakfast with my higly amused colleagues was why do people do this?  What prompts them?  There is always that one explanation that we can lump it with– Mad dogs and Englishmen going out in the hot sun. ..

My only experience of seeing and knowing a streaker was when I was at Uni in Loughborough, U.K.  An absolutely stunning South African flat mate of mine streaked in the snow.  She was rich, filthy rich and as rich folk do nutty things –  we didn’t pay much attention to this one episode.

Sri Lanka first got a taste of public nudity when tourism was at it s peak in the 1980’s.   Coming home for a holiday after living in Malaysia, topless and nude sunbathing was a something new to me.  It was common sight on the beach in Hikkaduwa where my parents had a house.  My mother and father,  bless them, never batted an eye lid.  Confronting a topless  tourist lady who used to come over for chats to our house I was stunned when my father coolly said  “Yes, Linda we are seeing more and more of you each day!” The Hikkaduwa cops once tried to arrest a nude sunbathing lady, but she bit the hand of the arresting cop and escaped running along the railroad tracks. 

I was digging on the Net to find the photo that appeared on the Island to put a link to this story but that proved futile.  There was no  photo on the Internet edition of the paper.  But then as it happens so often with the Internet I unearthed this article on “A history of Streaking: Birthday Suits and 15 seconds of Infamy.”   

The article an interesting read says   “25-year-old Australian Michael O’Brian is believed to have been the first person to “streak” the audience at a major stadium. During a 1974 rugby match in London between England and Wales, O’Brian ran onto the playing field naked. The photo of his arrest illustrates the forbidden appeal that comes with streaking. Every streaker knows that it’s the easiest way to instantly please tens of thousands of people, and even the authorities have trouble concealing their delight when streakers strike”

‘But moments of streaking glory aren’t without their dark side. Fifteen seconds of infamy can often end with criminal prosecution on indecent behavior charges. Indeed, streakers run a fine line on the playing field between humorous self promotion and obscenity. After all, the stands are also filled with children who could be traumatized by the incident.”

“Some exhibitionist streakers are active in areas beyond the playing field, too. And there’s a thin moral line that divides light-hearted nudist jokes and more sinister acts, such as streaking a school yard.  After Ernie streaked children at a school in Bielefeld, he had to spend several months in jail. “