Kerry Packer: Man who saw tomorrow
Televisionpoint.com Team
The two most influential figures of Australian cricket, indeed of that country itself, were Sir Donald Bradman and Kerry Packer. If Bradman revolutionised batting with typical Aussie zeal in the quest of sporting dominance of the world, Packer brought about a revolution in the game without ever raising a bat in anger. Both passed away in the new millennium, leaving the cricket world poorer by their departure but much richer for their contribution. If Bradman's was the inspiring tale of a country kid conquering sporting peaks, Packer's was the unusual tale of a businessman who saw a future for cricket that none else then thought was desirable.
A game steeped in conservatism could not have taken kindly to a man who had this to say at the negotiating table, 'Come on, we're all harlots, what's your price?' It also transpires that the man admired Genghis Khan so much as to have reportedly said, 'He wasn't very loveable, but he was bloody efficient.' Packer was a scion of the Packer family whose shift to mainland Australia came after his grandfather Robert Clyde Packer found a 10shilling coin on the road in Tasmania, placed it on a horse at nourishing odds, and cashed the winnings to wend his way north. He became a newspaper editor who was to intervene once in Bradman's career to allow him to abrogate a writing contract with Associated Newspapers so as to enable him to play for Australia in the first Test match of the Bodyline series.
There has always been speculation whether Kerry was a visionary who had only the interests of the game at heart or was he just a predatory businessman who wreaked vengeance on the Australian Cricket Board which had refused to hand him the television rights that traditionally went to ABC, an organisation as dull as the BBC, at least in the matter of sports telecasting.
The slogan emblazoned on T-shirts at the time, 'Big boys play night cricket with two white balls', was too raunchy, maybe even outright bawdy. But it signified the brash new game that Packer virtually invented with players wearing 'pyjamas', as their colour trousers were derisively called, and competing under lights in makeshift venues like showgrounds and Aussie Rules footie fields. Where would the modern game have been but for these innovations? The former captains he hired at considerable cost to interpret the game for a growing TV audience always sang his praises but the establishment which was ultimately to cave in to his demands had its revenge by never accepting performances in his Super Tests and World Series cricket in the record books. Players who scored runs and took wickets in the 'Packer Circus' maintain till today that they were tougher than those obtained in official Test cricket.
P acker's influence was the least on India, although his execu tive team headed by Lynton Taylor did come scouting for rebels, offering unheard of sums to Sunil Gavaskar and Syed Kirmani, to name just two, for getting on a plane down under. No Indian cricketer was willing to face the opprobrium after a defection.
The feelings in Australia were running so high about the Packer revolution in 1977 that an aggrieved compositor in a conservative newspaper slipped in a sexual epithet in place of his surname creating a brouhaha. The Indian cricket board was a committed opponent of Packer, sending its Test team in direct competition in 197778 to Australia and sharing willingly the legal costs in the famous case ruled upon in the UK by justice Slade, but in Packer's favour.
'Restraint of trade' was the conclusive judgment on the diktat issued by the ICC that anyone playing in Packer's WSC would be banned. By the time peace was restored with Packer getting the rights for his Channel Nine for an undisclosed sum for three years (an arrangement that has continued for close to 30 years) was said to have lost close to $1.5 million on his circus which between 1977 and 1979 was a not inconsiderable sum.
The players were extremely happy, their earnings in shamateur days multiplied several times over in a united cricket world. Retired players began stepping into the commentary box for a lucrative after-career and the face of cricket presentation itself changed dramatically. Much of Channel Nine's work soon after peace was restored was path-breaking.
Modern players keep paying the price in terms of a crowded programme run by a television feeding frenzy. But the better ones are all millionaires because one man had the gumption to pay them a wage in keeping with their crowd-attracting power. There are many opinions on his motives. There is, however, no denying the lateral thinking of the man who saw tomorrow and acted in that direction.
Even 15 years ago, when it was believed Packer had died from a heart attack while playing polo, it would have been unthinkable to have Test players wear black armbands in memory of the man who tore the cricket world asunder. There has been some belated recognition of his contribution towards changing the face of cricket. Visionary or revolutionary, Packer made an impact on the game that even great players may not have managed.
The two most influential figures of Australian cricket, indeed of that country itself, were Sir Donald Bradman and Kerry Packer. If Bradman revolutionised batting with typical Aussie zeal in the quest of sporting dominance of the world, Packer brought about a revolution in the game without ever raising a bat in anger. Both passed away in the new millennium, leaving the cricket world poorer by their departure but much richer for their contribution. If Bradman's was the inspiring tale of a country kid conquering sporting peaks, Packer's was the unusual tale of a businessman who saw a future for cricket that none else then thought was desirable.
A game steeped in conservatism could not have taken kindly to a man who had this to say at the negotiating table, 'Come on, we're all harlots, what's your price?' It also transpires that the man admired Genghis Khan so much as to have reportedly said, 'He wasn't very loveable, but he was bloody efficient.' Packer was a scion of the Packer family whose shift to mainland Australia came after his grandfather Robert Clyde Packer found a 10shilling coin on the road in Tasmania, placed it on a horse at nourishing odds, and cashed the winnings to wend his way north. He became a newspaper editor who was to intervene once in Bradman's career to allow him to abrogate a writing contract with Associated Newspapers so as to enable him to play for Australia in the first Test match of the Bodyline series.
There has always been speculation whether Kerry was a visionary who had only the interests of the game at heart or was he just a predatory businessman who wreaked vengeance on the Australian Cricket Board which had refused to hand him the television rights that traditionally went to ABC, an organisation as dull as the BBC, at least in the matter of sports telecasting.
The slogan emblazoned on T-shirts at the time, 'Big boys play night cricket with two white balls', was too raunchy, maybe even outright bawdy. But it signified the brash new game that Packer virtually invented with players wearing 'pyjamas', as their colour trousers were derisively called, and competing under lights in makeshift venues like showgrounds and Aussie Rules footie fields. Where would the modern game have been but for these innovations? The former captains he hired at considerable cost to interpret the game for a growing TV audience always sang his praises but the establishment which was ultimately to cave in to his demands had its revenge by never accepting performances in his Super Tests and World Series cricket in the record books. Players who scored runs and took wickets in the 'Packer Circus' maintain till today that they were tougher than those obtained in official Test cricket.
P acker's influence was the least on India, although his execu tive team headed by Lynton Taylor did come scouting for rebels, offering unheard of sums to Sunil Gavaskar and Syed Kirmani, to name just two, for getting on a plane down under. No Indian cricketer was willing to face the opprobrium after a defection.
The feelings in Australia were running so high about the Packer revolution in 1977 that an aggrieved compositor in a conservative newspaper slipped in a sexual epithet in place of his surname creating a brouhaha. The Indian cricket board was a committed opponent of Packer, sending its Test team in direct competition in 197778 to Australia and sharing willingly the legal costs in the famous case ruled upon in the UK by justice Slade, but in Packer's favour.
'Restraint of trade' was the conclusive judgment on the diktat issued by the ICC that anyone playing in Packer's WSC would be banned. By the time peace was restored with Packer getting the rights for his Channel Nine for an undisclosed sum for three years (an arrangement that has continued for close to 30 years) was said to have lost close to $1.5 million on his circus which between 1977 and 1979 was a not inconsiderable sum.
The players were extremely happy, their earnings in shamateur days multiplied several times over in a united cricket world. Retired players began stepping into the commentary box for a lucrative after-career and the face of cricket presentation itself changed dramatically. Much of Channel Nine's work soon after peace was restored was path-breaking.
Modern players keep paying the price in terms of a crowded programme run by a television feeding frenzy. But the better ones are all millionaires because one man had the gumption to pay them a wage in keeping with their crowd-attracting power. There are many opinions on his motives. There is, however, no denying the lateral thinking of the man who saw tomorrow and acted in that direction.
Even 15 years ago, when it was believed Packer had died from a heart attack while playing polo, it would have been unthinkable to have Test players wear black armbands in memory of the man who tore the cricket world asunder. There has been some belated recognition of his contribution towards changing the face of cricket. Visionary or revolutionary, Packer made an impact on the game that even great players may not have managed.
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