World Series Cricket
West Indies XI | |
Most runs | Greg Chappell |
---|---|
Most wickets | Dennis Lillee |
World Series Cricket (WSC) was a commercial professional cricket competition staged between 1977 and 1979 which was organised by Kerry Packer and his Australian television network, Nine Network. WSC ran in commercial competition to established international cricket. World Series Cricket drastically changed the nature of cricket, and its influence continues to be felt today.
Three main factors caused the formation of WSC — a widespread view that players were not paid sufficient amounts to make a living from cricket or reflect their market value and that following the development of colour television and increased viewer audiences of sports events, the commercial potential of cricket was not being achieved by the established cricket boards and Packer wished to secure the exclusive broadcasting rights to Australian cricket, then held by the non-commercial, government-owned Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC), to realise and capitalise on the commercial potential of cricket.
After the
Australian Captain Ian Chappell summed up the quality of World Series Cricket by saying it was the toughest cricket that he ever played (having all the best players in the world involved).[1]
Kerry Packer and the Australian television industry
In the mid-1970s, the Australian television industry was at a crossroads. Since its inception in 1956, commercial television in Australia had developed a reliance on imported programs, particularly from the United States, as buying them was cheaper than commissioning Australian productions. Agitation for more Australian-made programming gained impetus from the "TV: Make it Australian" campaign in 1970. This led to a government-imposed quota system in 1973.[2] The advent of colour transmissions in 1975 markedly improved sport as a television spectacle and, importantly, Australian sport counted as local content. However, sports administrators perceived live telecasts to have an adverse effect on attendance. The correlation between sports, corporate sponsorship, and television exposure was not evident to Australian sports administrators at the time.
After the death of his father
Determined to get some cricket on Channel Nine, Packer put an offer to the
Packer took this idea, then fleshed it out into a full series between the best Australian players and a team from the rest of the world. His mistrust of cricket's administrators deepened when the ACB recommended the TCCB accept an offer for their broadcasts rights from the ABC, even though ABC's $210,000 offer was only 14% of the offer from Packer.[8] For the first time, the game's officialdom had a demonstration of Packer's wherewithal: he immediately doubled his original offer and won the contract.[8] But he never forgot the machinations involved in winning the bid.
Secret signings
Packer's planning of the proposed "exhibition" series was audacious. In early 1977, he began contracting a list of Australian players provided by recently retired Australian Test captain Ian Chappell. A bigger coup was achieved when Packer convinced the England captain Tony Greig to not only sign on, but to act as an agent in signing many players around the world.[9] By the time the season climaxed with the Centenary Test match between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1977, about two dozen players had committed to Packer's enterprise, which as yet had no grounds to play on, no administration and was secret to all in the cricket world. It was a measure of the players' dissatisfaction with official cricket that they were prepared to sign up for what was still a vague concept and yet keep everything covert.[10]
By the time the Australian team arrived to tour England in May 1977, thirteen of the seventeen members of the squad had committed to Packer. News of the WSC plans were inadvertently leaked to Australian journalists, who broke the story on 9 May. Immediately, all hell broke loose in the hitherto conservative world of cricket.[citation needed] Not unexpectedly, the English were critical of what they quickly dubbed the "Packer Circus" and reserved particular vitriol for the English captain Tony Greig, for his central role in organising the break-away. Greig retained his position in the team, but was stripped of the captaincy and ostracised by everyone in the cricket establishment, most of whom had been singing his praises just weeks before.[citation needed]
It seemed certain that all Packer players would be banned from Test and first-class cricket. The Australian players were a divided group and the management made their displeasure clear to the Packer signees.
Court case
A largely unknown Kerry Packer arrived in London in late May 1977.[12] He appeared on David Frost's The Frost Programme to debate his concept with commentators Jim Laker and Robin Marlar. Marlar's aggressive, indignant interrogation of Packer came unstuck when Packer proved to be articulate, witty, and confident that his vision was the way of the future.[13] The show significantly raised Packer's profile and converted some to his way of thinking. The main goal of his trip was to meet the game's authorities and reach some type of compromise. He made a canny move by securing Richie Benaud as a consultant. Benaud's standing in the game and his journalistic background helped steer Packer through the politics of the game.
Cricket's world governing body, the International Cricket Conference (ICC), now entered a controversy initially perceived as an Australian domestic problem. They met with Packer, Benaud and two assistants at Lord's on 23 June to discuss the WSC plans.[14] After ninety minutes of compromise from both sides had almost created common ground, Packer demanded that the ICC award him the exclusive Australian television rights after the 1978–79 season ended. It wasn't in the power of the ICC to do so[15] and Packer stormed from the meeting to deliver the following unadulterated declaration of war:[16]
Had I got those TV rights I was prepared to withdraw from the scene and leave the running of cricket to the board.
I will take no steps now to help anyone. It's every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost.
This outburst undid any goodwill that Packer had created during his earlier television appearance, and alarmed his contracted players, who had viewed his scheme as being as much philanthropic as commercial.[17] The ICC decided to treat Packer's scheme with contempt when a month later they decided Packer's matches would not be given first-class status and the players involved would be banned from Test matches and first-class cricket.
A number of the signed players now considered withdrawing.
The case began on 26 September 1977 and lasted seven weeks. The cricket authority's counsel said that if the top players deserted traditional cricket then gate receipts would decline. Mr. Packer's lawyers stated that the ICC had tried to force the Packer players to break their contracts and to prevent others from joining them. Mr Justice Christopher Slade considered the following nine points:[21]
- Are the contracts between WSC and its players void?
- Has WSC established that, as at 3 August, and subject to any statutory immunity conferred by the 1974 Act, it was a good cause of action in tort against the ICC based on inducement of breach of contract?
- Has WSC established that as at 3 August and subject as aforesaid, it had a good cause of action in tort against the TCCB based on the same grounds?
- Subject to the provisions of the 1974 Act, are the new ICC rules void as being in restraint of trade?
- Subject to aforesaid, are the proposed new TCCB rules void as being in restraint of trade?
- Is the ICC an employers' association within the 1974 Act?
- Is the TCCB an employers' association?
- If either the ICC or TCCB or both be employers' associations, does this itself bar any cause of action that would otherwise exist?
- In the light of the answers, what relief (if any) should be given to (a) the individual plaintiffs and (b) WSC?
Justice Slade in his judgment said that professional cricketers need to make a living and the ICC should not stand in their way just because its own interests might be damaged. He said the ICC might have stretched the concept of loyalty too far. Players could not be criticized for entering the contracts in secrecy as the main authorities would deny the players the opportunity to enjoy the advantages offered by WSC.
The decision was a blow to the cricket authorities and, adding insult to injury, they had to pay court costs. English County cricket teams were pleased as their players who had signed to play for Packer were still eligible to play for them.
"Supertests", the West Indies and drop-in pitches
Official cricket won a series of minor victories – Packer was unable to use the terms "Test match" or call their team of Australians "Australia", or use the official rules of cricket, which are the copyright of the Marylebone Cricket Club.[22]
So the five-day matches became "Supertests", played by the "WSC Australian XI" and Richie Benaud set to work writing rules and playing conditions for the series. Most importantly, WSC was shut out of traditional cricket venues, so Packer leased two
The obvious problem was preparing grass pitches of suitable standard at these venues, where none had existed previously. By common consensus, it was considered impossible to create the pitches in such a short time.
Another unexpected element of the series was the emergence of a West Indian side. The concept was originally envisaged as Australia versus Rest of the World. When the West Indians were offered contracts that would pay them more than they could earn in an entire career, they all signed with alacrity. However, WSC used the West Indian players in the Rest of the World team as well.
The first WSC game, a "Supertest" between the Australians and the West Indians began at VFL Park on 2 December 1977. The standard of the cricket was excellent, but the crowds were poor, which was emphasised by the stadium's capacity of 79,000.[26] The official Test match played in Brisbane at the same time, featuring the weakened Australian team and India, attracted far more spectators.
First season: 1977–78
Employing personality-based marketing, WSC placed great emphasis on the "gladiatorial" aspect of fast bowling and heavily promoted fast bowlers such as Dennis Lillee, Imran Khan, Michael Holding and Andy Roberts. Packer was doubtful of the effectiveness of slow bowling.[citation needed] To counteract the continual rotation of pace bowlers on pitches of unproven quality, WSC batsmen felt the need to increase their bodily protection. In the Sydney Supertest on 16 December, Australian David Hookes was hit a sickening blow from a bouncer bowled by West Indian Andy Roberts.[27] Paradoxically, the effect of Hookes' broken jaw, captured graphically by Nine's cameras, served to "legitimise" the WSC matches:
... he had his jaw shattered by a bouncer from Andy Roberts ... Until that moment, WSC had looked suspiciously like a thrown-together entertainment package; Hookes' injury impressed the contest's intensity on all observers.[28]
This incident had another effect: the first helmets appeared on batsmen's heads.[29] Initially, Englishman Dennis Amiss sported a motorcycle helmet when batting in WSC,[30] and he was quickly followed by many other players. Protective cricket equipment developed rapidly, and by the end of WSC,[31] virtually all batsmen in WSC and official Test matches were sporting some form of protective headwear.
WSC decided to place a greater emphasis on
By contrast, Packer was seen disconsolately counting cars as they arrived in the car park at some of his matches. He held one glimmer of hope, however. The best-attended matches had been the day-night fixtures, and this format would become the backbone of the programming for the second season. In hindsight, his organisation's ability to even stage the games at such short notice was a triumph and excellent fine-tuning for what was to come. So far, the ACB had enjoyed the backing of the press and the true aficionados of the game. But a series of misfortunes and poor decisions came to plague the ACB in their battle to stay ahead of Packer.
The official Australian team
The united front weakens
Between the two WSC seasons, the united front presented by the ICC countries began to erode. The highest ill-feeling toward Packer existed in England, but many officials of the county clubs were prepared to keep Packer players on their books.
The West Indies were the most financially vulnerable, and only voted for the original ICC in the interests of unity. The financial and political problems of the recent Australian tour led them to begin negotiations with Packer for a WSC series in the Caribbean during the spring of 1979. Initially, Pakistan took a hard line and refused to select their Packer players, but when WSC signed additional Pakistanis during the off-season, and when an under-strength official Pakistan team were easily beaten by England in the three-Test series in the English summer of 1978, they took a more pragmatic approach, so when it came time in October 1978 for the first Test series between Pakistan and India for seventeen years, all the Packer players were included. Ostensibly, India were not involved as yet, but rumours abounded that their captain Bishan Bedi and star batsman Sunil Gavaskar had signed WSC options.[34]
New Zealand's chief administrator,
Meanwhile, WSC continued to up the stakes for the embattled ACB, optioning a number of young Australians and signing more overseas players: they now had well over 50 cricketers under contract. After organising the tours of New Zealand and the West Indies, WSC began making noises about a tour to England and signing enough players for stand-alone England and Pakistan teams.
A second-tier tour was created for the 1978–79 season, taking the game to provincial centres around Australia and giving back-up players an opportunity to play regularly. This tour covered a 20,000-kilometre route between Cairns in Queensland to Devonport in Tasmania. WSC created the "Cavaliers" for this secondary tour, a similar concept to the "International Cavaliers" teams of the 1960s in England. The team captained by Eddie Barlow was made of recently retired cricketers, such as Rohan Kanhai, David Holford and Ian Redpath and occasionally young Australians such as Trevor Chappell. It also starred a great innings at Maitland, New South Wales, by a then unheard of Kepler Wessels of 92 not out for the Cavaliers.[36] These matches brought cricket to venues that rarely saw big games.
Packer demonstrated his political clout by getting New South Wales premier
Second season: 1978–79
The war swung dramatically in Packer's favour on 28 November 1978 when the first day-night match on a traditional cricket ground was played at the SCG between the WSC Australian and West Indian teams. A near-capacity crowd of 44,374 turned out to watch the limited overs contest, serving a warning to the ACB.[37] A few days later, the official Australian team was humbled in the first Test against England at Brisbane, a precursor to a 5–1 thrashing for a side now captained by the unprepared Graham Yallop. Even Yallop felt himself unsuited to the position, and his team was unable to compete with an experienced, professional England side. Although the Englishmen merely defeated the opposition presented, they further damaged the ACB's cause by playing slow, grinding cricket. Consequently, attendances were poor and the media clamoured for the Australian team to return to full strength.
On the other hand, WSC, with its aggressive marketing, nighttime play, and a plethora of one-day matches, had increased both attendances and television ratings. The targeted audience of women and children flocked to WSC, and the playing standard remained high.
The Supertest final at the SCG between Australian and the World teams, played under lights, drew almost 40,000 spectators over three days. The sixth Australia-England Test at the same venue a week later was attended by just 22,000 people for four days of play. Later in the season, the ACB scheduled
WSC then headed to the
The rapprochement
By 1979, the ACB was in desperate financial straits and faced the prospect of fighting an opponent who had seemingly endless cash resources. In two seasons, the combined losses of the two biggest cricket associations,
When Parish announced the truce on 30 May 1979, a surprise was in store for followers of the game. Not only had Channel Nine won the exclusive rights to telecast Australian cricket, it was granted a ten-year contract to promote and market the game through a new company, PBL Marketing. The ACB capitulation infuriated the English authorities and the ICC as they had provided much in the way of financial and moral support to the ACB, which now appeared to have sold out to Packer. According to the 1980 issue of Wisden:[41]
The feeling in many quarters was that when the Australian Board first found Packer at their throats, the rest of the cricket world supported them to the hilt; even to the extent of highly expensive court cases which cricket could ill afford. Now, when it suited Australia, they had brushed their friends aside to meet their own ends.
The WSC Australian players (on tour in West Indies at the time) had no input into the negotiations. This left some disillusioned and apprehensive that they would suffer discrimination from the ACB in the coming years. The ACB opted to not select WSC-contracted players for the tours of England (for the
For the 1979–80 season, Greg Chappell was restored as Australian captain and the team contained an even mixture of WSC and non-WSC players.[43] The season's schedule was similar to the WSC format. England and West Indies toured, playing three Tests each against Australia, with a triangular one-day tournament (the World Series Cup) interspersed among the Tests. Australia's results were mixed: in the Test matches, they defeated England 3–0 (having lost 5–1 to the same opponents the previous summer) but lost 0–2 to West Indies, and they failed to make the final of the one-day tournament. The format of the season received heavy criticism,[44] but still made a healthy profit, much of which went to PBL rather than the ACB.
Legacy
This section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2019) |
World Series Cricket changed the game in many ways. Due to the punishing schedule, cricketers had to be fitter than ever before.
Night matches have become very common, in all forms of the game, with the recent innovation of the
However, the traditional form of the game, first-class cricket and Test matches, is still played around the world, and in recent[when?] seasons has challenged one-day cricket for the interest of the public. Indeed, membership of a Test Cricket side is often seen as being more prestigious for players, due both to the more challenging nature of the format and to the higher turnover rate of one-day players.[citation needed] Kerry Packer described his involvement in World Series Cricket as "half-philanthropic".
Marketing was a major tool for World Series Cricket, and revolutionised the way cricket in Australia was marketed, with the catchy "C'mon Aussie C'mon" theme song, the simple logo, the coloured clothing worn by the players, and a range of merchandise. All of these techniques pioneered by World Series Cricket have become a staple of the way the game is now marketed in Australia.
In the Australian team, there was a division between the players who stayed loyal to the official XI and the Packer rebels, especially between players such as Dennis Lillee, Rod Marsh, former WSC players, and Kim Hughes who stuck with the official side. The division went on into the 1980s. Many of WSC's players fitted back into the official Australian side, though a handful of players from outside WSC remained at the highest level, most notably Allan Border.
The ACB continued to use the name "World Series Cup" to describe the One Day International tournament it held during each summer, usually involving Australia and two other international teams. This format was from WSC's International Cup. The name was used until the mid-1990s.
Coloured dress, protective helmets,
Austin Robertson when he was promoting his book[46] Cricket Outlaws[47] stated how much the directors were paid for World Series Cricket. John Cornell – $70,000, Paul Hogan – $20,000 and Austin Robertson – $10,000.
The Nine Network continued to hold the rights to Test and international cricket in Australia until 2018, when the rights were given to the Seven Network and Foxtel. [48] As of late 2022, Nine is again seeking the rights to international cricket,[49] with Seven suing Cricket Australia over the quality of the Big Bash League.[50]
Players, results and statistics
Venues
Trivia
This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (April 2021) |
- During the life of WSC, 56,126 runs were made and 2,364 wickets taken.[51] The 1977 ruling of the ICC that the matches were not first-class has remained, so none of the WSC players' records include the runs and wickets of the WSC era.[52]
- WSC's advertising jingle "C'mon Aussie C'mon" was released as a single and was number one on the Australian charts in February 1979.[53]
See also
References
- Cashman, Richard et al. – editors (1996): The Oxford Campanion to Australian Cricket, ISBN 0-19-553575-8.
- ISBN 1-86372-027-8.
- McFarline, Peter (1977): A Game Divided, ISBN 0-09-130680-9.
- Hodder and Stoughton.
- ISBN 0-85558-798-9. Foreword by Richie Benaud
- Golden Press (1979): Cricket Alight! World Series Cricket, in Australia, New Zealand and the ISBN 0-85558-608-7. Foreword by Dennis Lillee
Footnotes
- ^ Burnett, Adam (25 November 2015). "Cricket Australia Recognise World Series Cricket Statistics". Cricket.com.au. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
- ^ Australian Heritage Council. Archived 10 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 29 July 2007.
- Sydney Morning Herald. 28 December 2005.
- ^ "Packer 'put Australian Open on map'". Sydney Morning Herald. 27 December 2005. Retrieved 29 July 2007.
- ^ Haigh (1993), p 34.
- ^ McFarline (1977), p 157.
- ^ Lillee (2003), p 129.
- ^ a b Haigh (1993), p 41.
- ^ Wisden Cricketer magazine. Accessed 28 July 2007.
- ^ Pollard (1982), p. 1138.
- ^ The Age. Archived 14 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 28 July 2007
- ^ Haigh (1993), p 67.
- ^ McFarline (1977), p 33.
- ^ McFarline (1977), p56.
- ^ McFarline (1977), pp 56–57.
- ^ Haigh (1993), p 76.
- ^ Haigh (1993), p 77.
- ^ McFarline (1977), pp 61–62.
- ^ McFarline (1977), pp 100–101.
- legal "personality"at the time.
- ^ Wisden 1978. Accessed on 29 July 2007.
- ^ Marylebone Cricket Club. Archived 9 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 29 July 2007.
- ^ Lillee (2003), p 131.
- ^ Cashman et al. (1996), p 327. After WSC concluded, Maley was the curator of the WACA ground in Perth from 1980–88.
- ^ Lillee (2003), p 132.
- ^ "'Supertest' crowds disappoint W.S.C." The Press. 6 December 1977. p. 42.
- ^ Cricinfo.com. Accessed 29 July 2007.
- ^ Cricinfo.com: David Hookes player profile. Retrieved 27 September 2007.
- ^ Haigh (1993), p 132.
- ^ Dennis Amiss: A limpet at the crease. Accessed 28 July 2007.
- ^ Australia Innovates project. Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Accessed on 29 July 2007.
- Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ "Packer men out — W.I. test team decimated". The Press. 31 March 1978. p. 24.
- ^ Wisden 1979. Accessed 29 July 2007.
- ^ "Hadlee released for W.S.C. matches". The Press. 9 October 1978. p. 19.
- Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ^ "Big crowd at night cricket". The Press. 29 November 1978. p. 6.
- ^ Wisden 1980. Accessed 10 August 2007.
- ^ Martins, Dave (24 January 2016). "Cricket riot at Bourda". stabroeknews.com. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
- Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ^ Wisden 1980. Accessed 28 July 2007.
- ^ Cricinfo.com. Accessed 10 August 2007.
- ^ "Greg Chappell returns to the cricket fold as Australian captain". The Press. 20 November 1979. p. 32.
- ^ Wisden 1981. Retrieved 18 August 2007.
- ^ Lavalette, Tristan. "Indian Premier League's Jaw-Dropping $6 Billion Broadcast Deal Will Have Major Ramifications In Cricket". Forbes. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
- ^ "Lifting the lid on World Series Cricket". Retrieved 23 December 2017.
- ISBN 9781760554712.
- ^ Cowie, Tom (13 April 2018). "Farewell cricket on Nine, but the spark was lost long ago". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
- ^ "Report: Nine in late run for Cricket rights | TV Tonight". TV Tonight. 22 December 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
- ^ "Why Seven is suing Cricket Australia and wants out of its broadcast rights agreement". ABC News. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
- ^ Haigh (1993), p 326.
- ^ Cricinfo.com. Accessed 30 July 2007.
- ^ Australian music charts archive. Archived 15 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 29 July 2007.
External links
- WSC Supertests Scorecards 1977–78 – Cricket Archive.
- World Series Cricket (Packer) in Australia, 1977-78 – ESPNCricinfo.
- WSC Supertests Scorecards 1978–79 – Cricket Archive
- World Series Cricket (Packer) in Australia, New Zealand and West Indies, 1978-79 – ESPNCricinfo
- WSC Australia v WSC West Indies WSC International Cup 28 November 1978 – Cricket Archive
- The World Series: gone but not forgotten – Greg Baum – The Age 31 May 2003