​Are We Really Calling David Warner's Century Celebration 'The Toyota?'

It was the great man Bill Lawry of all people who called it. After a typically explosive innings in which Aussie opener David Warner racked up 100 runs off nearly as many balls, the Matraville Mauler, as he's known, leapt into the air to celebrate. The shape and trajectory of the jump did admittedly bare an uncanny resemblance to the trademark of Cricket Australia sponsor, Toyota, and the legendary cricket commentator, Bill Lawry called it as such.

"Is it a Toyota? Yes, it is!" he said live on the telecast.

But should there not be some things that remain sacred and untouched by the commercial interests that prop up the game? And if so, the rare occasion that a player brings up a century - what is considered one of the pinnacles of the game - would certainly be one.

Last year Toyota ran a very successful advertising campaign piggy backing on cricket's long and quirky history of celebrations. One advertisement featured former Australian Test Captain, Michael Clarke being schooled in how to perform the 'Oh What A Feeling Jump.'

Corporate sponsorship of sporting events is an inescapable reality of the modern world. But aren't the billboards that ring the ground, the ads that flashing on the big screen and our TV screens at home, and the clumsy on-air cross-promotions enough?

In Lawry's defence he may have been simply calling it for what it was. In 2015 the the car sponsor took the liberty of giving Warner their inaugural 'Celebration Of The Summer Award,' which they marked with the amusing trophy you see below (note the pole placement, as many of the twitterati did). Warner, however, has never actually said whether his leap is in honour of the Cricket Australia sponsor, Toyota. Prior to the second test at the MCG the celebration was known as the David Warner leap.

Congrats to David Warner on winning the inaugural Toyota Celebration of the Summer award! Cricket…— Toyota Australia (@Toyota_Aus)January 27, 2015

A large part of the appeal of Test cricket is the sense of timelessness, tradition and purity it offers. It has remained remarkably unchanged since its inception in 1877 and when viewed in this context, the seemingly harmless act of giving corporate sponsors naming rights over a celebration is a serious deviation. It could also theoretically open the door for cash-hungry players to start making all kinds of signals and gestures on behalf of individual sponsors. And that would not be cricket.