In this week’s edition of ‘In Search of West Indies Cricket,’ Roger Seymour looks at the life and legacy of Kerry Packer. In Part 1, Sunday Stabroek February 7, 2016, he traced the linage of World Series Cricket (WSC) from May to early December, 1977.
WSC Season Two: 28 November, 1978, Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), first day/night one-day game at a ‘traditional’ cricket venue. WSC West Indies dismissed for 128 in 47.3 over, WSC Australians won by 5 wickets in 37 overs, Ian Davis 48 n.o.
Attendance: 44,377 (The first WSC day/night match was played on January 23, 1978, at the now defunct VFL Park, Melbourne, between WSC Australia and WSC World XI.)
Season 1 had been a disaster: virtually ignored by the Australian media and with low attendance figures. During the off-season WSC changed strategy as Packer wielded his political influence to get the government of his home state New South Wales (NSW) to remove the ban on WSC at the SCG and pay for the installation of six light stanchions to illuminate the field. The focus would be Sydney and Melbourne (despite getting permission for the Adelaide Oval, South Australia and the Gabba in Queensland) and day/night cricket.
Season 2 in Australia was followed with an exciting SuperTest Series in the Caribbean, from February to April, 1979. The truce was called on May 30, 1979. The Australian Cricket Board (ACB), caving in to the media baron’s demands, awarded Channel 9 the television rights for the next three years (it continued for several years) and a contract to promote and market the game for the next ten years, which was exploited to the maximum. WSC closed, and cricket was never the same again.
The revolution had been in waiting. A game run by amateur enthusiasts, played by part-time professionals, with marketing and television promotion virtually unheard of and “Nobody had bothered to pay the players what they were worth. It was the easiest game in the world to take over,” Kerry Packer had said.
“It was the best two years of our lives. We played our best cricket, we had the most fun we ever had and we revolutionised the game,” according to Greg Chappell, former WSC player and Australian Captain.
Who was Kerry Packer? A controversial and complex man everybody knew of but few knew.
Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer was born on December 17, 1937, into the Packer media dynasty, which had been founded by his grandfather, Robert Clyde Packer, a Tasmanian journalist, who was famous for initiating the Miss Australia Pageant. The second son of Frank and Gretel, he was expected to inherit the family traits of an imposing physical stature and a passion for sports, but sadly longevity was not in the genes. As a child he was plagued with ill health which would become his lifelong Achilles heel. At the age of eight, he was struck with poliomyelitis and pneumatic fever. He spent nine months in an iron lung, followed by two years’ recuperation in Canberra, with hardly any visits from his parents. Polio would leave half of his face palsied, which made him very self-conscious, thinking everyone looked at him as if he was the Elephant Man. Now, two years behind in school, struggling academically, possibly due to undiagnosed dyslexia, he led a lonely childhood. As an enthusiastic teenager, he participated in boxing, rugby and cricket.
Upon leaving school at 19, he joined the family business, Australian Consolidated Press (ACP), working on the docks, loading the Daily Telegraph newspapers. His tough and demanding father, often referred to him as ‘Boofhead,’ whilst Clyde, the favoured, older brother, was the assumed heir. Frank’s empire included two TV stations, five radio stations, the Sydney Daily Telegraph, nine provincial papers and 60% of the country’s magazines. In 1972, as a result of a dispute over the scheduling of an interview with union leader, Bob Hawke (later Australian Prime Minister), on the Channel 9 television Network, and other personal issues, Clyde walked away from the family business, migrated to California and hardly ever returned to Australia. Upon Frank’s death, at 65, in May 1974, Kerry, now 36, assumed the reins of the A$100 million conglomerate. Ever mindful of the old adage, “from shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations” he vowed to increase the family fortune.
ACP produced several leading magazines, the flagship of which was the Australian Women’s Weekly (founded in 1933 by Frank) and Cleo, Kerry’s first successful venture in 1972, despite Frank’s doomsday prophesy about its viability. Cleo, targeting women between the ages of 20 and 40, known for detailed sex advice and controversial content, became an overnight sensation.
The ultra-competitive magnate’s initial focus, was the Channel 9 network, whose dismal ratings he set out to reverse. The main focus of content was sport, current affairs and news. An accomplished sailor and golfer, he acquired the rights to the Australian Open Golf Tournament, pouring millions into the enterprise in an effort to make it the ‘fifth’ major golf title on the PGA Tour.
WSC was the genesis in the ratings apogee quest and no expense was spared as he sought to raise the bar in televised sports broadcasting. In a conversation with WSC’s Australian captain, Ian Chappell, the TV tycoon informed him, “the Yanks came out here to see our [Channel 9] coverage of the Australian Open Golf Tournament. For the first time anywhere, we covered all eighteen holes and they went back home and started doing the same. I want the other companies to copy our coverage of cricket.”
At the start of WSC’s first season, in December ’77, cricket fans sitting at home saw phenomenal improvement in TV coverage. Under the guidance of David Hill, a roving production crew, unheard of at the time, because of the inherent cost, was assembled. A commentary team of former test cricketers, including Richie Benaud, Bill Lawry, Fred Truman and Keith Stackpole along with Tony Cozier, was complemented by the best cameramen from Sydney and Melbourne. At the behest of the ‘Big Man’, as he was known at Channel 9, for the first time ever since televised cricket commenced in 1938, cameras covered the cricket pitch, from both ends of the ground. Initially, seven cameras, later increased to eight, were used, as compared to the former standard of five. The camera crew captured never-before-seen action of amazing fielding, batting skill and bowling technique, which was enhanced by the ultimate replays of the then slow-motion video-disc. Packer’s hands-on approach and keen attention to minute details, were exemplified by his insistence on Benaud wearing a lighter-coloured jacket, so as to distinguish himself as the presenter.
The incomparable mogul, was an astute, charismatic, uncompromising and intimidating negotiator with a violent temper. The latter was displayed on December 27, 1978, at a day/night one-day match, when the WSC Windies XI were dismissed for 66 in 33.4 overs in a losing cause against the WSC Australians. In the words of Joel Garner, WSC player, “He stormed into the dressing room, and let us know in no uncertain terms, as he read the riot act, that we were being paid very good money and this kind of performance was totally unacceptable: ‘If there is anything you want or anything lacking, let me know and I will get it for you.’” To this day, true West Indian cricket fans still thank Packer for the gift of Dennis Waight, who would remain as the West Indian physical trainer for 23 years.
In 1983, Australian multi-millionaire, Alan Bond, bankrolled the Australia II yacht in the America’s Cup, which had been held by the New York Yacht Club since 1851. It was his fourth attempt and he captured the Auld Mug, 4-3, to end the longest winning streak in the history of sport.
In 1987, he arrived in Sydney, with a coterie of advisers, to sell his interest in Perth’s Channel 9. A shrewd Packer convinced him that they should negotiate alone. Instead of selling, Bond ended up buying the whole network for A$1.2 billion. Three years later, Packer would re-acquire the expanded network for A$200 million. “You only get one Alan Bond in your lifetime. I have had mine,” was his summation of the deal.
The businessman had a reputation for asking an awful lot of questions, along with a keen sense of timing when making deals, knowing when to buy and when to sell, to maximise his returns. In October, 1987, he liquidated all his stock holdings just before the infamous stock market crash, escaping with few losses.
Packer’s real passion in life was gambling. As a young man he had frequented the underworld of Sydney’s back alleys of illegal casinos and bookmakers. His junkets in his converted DC-8 private jet to Las Vegas or London were feared by the casinos. In the parlance of the gaming world, he was known as a “whale,” one with deep pockets who loved to place wagers. The high roller was deemed “a hit and run player” who would appear at any time of the day or night. He claimed a variety of dubious honours: the first figure eight loss in British casino history, dropping US$10 million in ’91 and ’92 at the Las Vegas Hilton and losing US$20 million at baccarat in 2000 at the Bellagio, in Las Vegas. On the flip side, he was rumoured to be responsible for the Aspinall in London going broke in May 1990 and hitting the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, for US$26 million at blackjack in 1995, whilst earning a lifetime ban. Cocktail waitresses and croupiers were known to be recipients of ridiculous tips, often as much as US$50,000. The world’s biggest loser at blackjack, who was capable of changing a casino’s annual profits at a single session, never sulked after a loss. Gambling was all or nothing, but never with his company’s money. In a rare private lapse, the extremely secretive punter once conceded, “Gambling is like a disease not understood by those who don’t have it.”
The three-pack-a-day smoker, junk food craver (two cheeseburgers for lunch was standard fare with Fanta or Coca-Cola) and milkshake devotee, lost a cancerous kidney and his gallbladder in 1986. With the help of an acupuncturist, he addressed his weight problem, cut back on his smoking and rekindled his interest in Polo in a serious way. In spite of his giant size, he became a good Polo player over the next decade. The Polo centres of Argentina, Spain, England and Australia, were taken to new heights under his patronage and that of his erstwhile rival, London-based Swiss financier Urs Schwarzenbach and his famous Black Bears team. Packer would seek out and cajole into signing, the best professionals for his Ellersinta team, spending an estimated £50 million as he built a Polo dynasty. During the Polo season, his entourage would occupy five suites at the Savoy Hotel in London. In 1989, the locals of sleepy Stedham Village in West Sussex, experienced a dust bowl, as he converted 420 acres of pristine countryside in establishing the best Polo Centre in Europe. At Ellerson, in the Hunter Valley, in remote NSW, he established a state-of-the-art Polo facility, which included seven immaculate grounds, four large stable complexes (where he bred the world’s best equine bloodlines), a large indoor arena and a huge clubhouse full of exact replicas of the cups and trophies won by his team all over the world, including the Gold Queen’s Cup. The sprawling compound, included lots of accommodation for visiting teams and the second best golf course in Australia, designed by Aussie Golf Legend, British Open winner Greg Norman.
In 1990, whilst playing in the Australian Open Polo championships at Warwick Race Course, Sydney, Packer suffered a massive heart attack and was clinically dead for six minutes. Fortunately, the ambulance responding to the call, was one of the few in NSW equipped with a defibrillator which was used to resuscitate him. Following successful by-pass heart surgery, 16 days later, he challenged the Premier, “I’ll go you 50/50” to equip all ambulances in NSW—now fondly known as ‘Packer whackers’—with defibrillators. His A$2.5 million cheque was one of the few known, of the numerous philanthropic gestures to Australian hospitals and medical services (Education and the arts were not on his radar.) His employees in dire straits were also quiet recipients of his benevolence.
His marriage to Roslyn (Ros)Weedon since 1963 bore two children, Gretel and James. A devoted family man, he always credited his wife with raising the children well. With the onset of his failing health, he began the succession process to his 6’ 6” heir, James, by sending him to the Northern Territory to work as a jackaroo (cowhand) on the company’s cattle holdings for a year. Later, Al ‘Chainsaw’ Dunlap, a ruthless American businessman, was hired to mentor James in the workings of the harsh world of business. The Packer Empire, at this stage included property developments, investments in leisure industries, petrochemicals and large tracts of land in Queensland and NSW.
In 2000, Nick Ross, Packer’s long-time helicopter pilot and friend, donated a kidney for transplantation, as his sole remaining kidney became chronic, adding to a diabetic condition. Packer quipped, “I’m glad it’s your kidney and not your brain, I’m getting.” The surgery was captured in the documentary programme “Australian Story” (produced by ABC and not Channel 9), one of the rare occasions that Packer granted an interview to the media. Packer thereafter launched an organ transplant association in memory of the late David Hookes, a former WSC star.
The swashbuckling entrepreneur had succeeded at almost every venture, save the family’s long-term aspirations to take over the rival Fairfax group, publishers of the highly successful Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age newspapers.
The larger-than-life figure, who had dominated Australia physically, financially and commercially, died for the second time on December 26, 2005, nine days after his 68th birthday, at his home in Sydney, of kidney failure. He was the oldest Packer male in three generations Clyde had passed away in 2001, at 65. He had instructed his doctors to not prolong his life artificially, because he wanted to “die with dignity.” His fortune was worth an estimated A$6.5 billion. A moment of silence was observed in his memory at the Boxing Day test match, between Australia and South Africa at Melbourne.
His final resting place is not in the family tomb in Vaucluse, NSW, but on a hill overlooking the Number 1 Polo field at Ellerston, next to Onassis, one of his favourite ponies.
The Wisden obituary observed, “Packer, for better or worse, was the media tycoon, whose intervention in cricket, created the finances, shape and tone of the modern game.”
“Every cricketer in the world, should get down on bended knees at night and thank Kerry Packer,” the late David Hookes, WSC poster boy once expounded.
Trivia question: Who bowled the first ball in the first day/night game? Who was the batsman?
