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Kerry packer book8/18/2023 ‘Despite my deep feeling for the traditional game, and my conviction that a vast majority of players and public still regard Test cricket as the supreme contest, we must accept that we live in a new era,’ he continued. Sir Donald wrote of the ‘great stadiums of Sydney and Melbourne now display huge electronic scoreboards costing millions of dollars and giving a wealth of information to the spectators, the enormous electric light towers turn night into day at the flick of a switch’. In fact, The Don was being overly pessimistic, as he would concede himself in Wisden in 1986, when he contributed a story under the heading ‘Whither Cricket Now?‘. ‘Only time can answer these questions, but I feel that the Packer interlude has damaged the whole structure of cricket more than anyone yet realises.‘ ‘As for the lights, I remain somewhat sceptical about the agreement with Packer, one-day games, lights and so on,’ he wrote. If These Walls Could Talk: A Celebration of the Sydney Cricket Ground by Andrew Webster, published by Stoke Hill Press. Nine held the rights for the next 40 years. On May 30, it was announced that the exclusive broadcast rights had been handed to Packer’s Channel Nine, just as he had wanted all along. It was clear to those with access to the Board’s finances that it might not survive if the war continued. ‘I don’t care what we have to give away to get this deal done,’ Bradman told them. Instead of finding a combative Bradman, Packer and his people were greeted by a pragmatic one, looking for compromise. On February 13, 1979, Packer flew to Adelaide in his private jet to finally end the war between World Series Cricket and the Australian Cricket Board. The first meeting between Bradman and Packer isn’t well known and wasn’t revealed until 2016 in a long-form piece in The Cricket Monthly from Daniel Brettig. And then there was Sir Donald himself, so cranky that he was now asking for top dollar for his weathered bats and sweat-stained old gloves. Big unsightly light towers glowing like the moon were getting up the nose and in the eyes of residents. In other words, if Packer was profiting from the SCG, why shouldn’t Bradman? Was all this going to be worth it? For Packer’s bottom line? For the credibility of the SCG? For anyone? SCG members were angry. They are making plenty of money from a business venture not associated with traditional cricket.’ If I do, it would need to be on a business basis, because I am certainly no longer interested in making a donation of anything to the SCG. ‘Some preliminary inquiries were made and then, when the big turnaround in the use of the SCG was made known, I engaged in some delaying correspondence with John Wood … However, on reflection, perhaps I should pursue the matter with an open mind and not be dissuaded by my prejudices. ‘Before the Packer episode, approaches were made to me by the Trustees of the SCG concerning the possible acquisition by them of my cricketana,’ he wrote in a letter to Morris on June 5, 1978. ![]() He’d been talking to the Trust about donating a large portion of his memorabilia - ‘cricketana’ as he curiously called it - but after hearing a deal had been struck with Packer, he changed his mind. Sir Donald Bradman had been watching all of this from afar, in Adelaide, with revulsion. Hills was a senior minister in Wran’s cabinet. When it came to appointing 12 new Trustees, only three of the old incumbents remained: chairman Pat Hills, NSW Country Rugby League secretary John O’Toole and Morris. Within 24 hours of the SCG Trust rejecting the bid to use the ground, the government of Labor Premier Neville Wran performed a stunning about-face, dissolving the Trust. ![]() What Bradman and the rest of the cricket establishment perhaps underestimated was just how far Packer’s power extended. It is unbelievable that one man because of a lust for power can throw into the melting pot the growth of over 100 years.’ ‘I see the ICC Test countries had the guts to confront Packer but what will happen next?’ he continued in his letter. In the end, principle will win, albeit through a long and costly process.’īradman knew that Packer and his deep pockets weren’t going away. For mine, I place principle before money, but not everyone does. ‘I presume and hope they saw the issue as the survival of Test cricket as we know it, or capitulation to a Packer monopoly. ![]() ‘First, my congratulations to the SCG Trustees for having the courage to resist the tempting Packer offer,’ he wrote. Upon hearing the news, Bradman sent Morris a letter of approval.
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