Melbourne, Aug 20: Legendary Australia cricketer Ian Chappell has said that Kerry Packer’s cricket revolution changed the way the game was played forever, as players wore coloured pyjamas, innings were over in a flash and the whole country was singing ‘C’mon Aussie, c’mon’.
Chappell was a key target of World Series Cricket, the rival competition plotted by media mogul Kerry Packer in revenge for being denied exclusive television rights to the game.
“At our first meeting, Kerry Packer asked me who I wanted in the World Series Cricket team. When I replied I was no longer the Australian captain, he quickly established the ground rules for his breakaway group of cricketers.
“What do you think this is, a bloody democracy? he exploded. I pay the bills, I pick the captain. You''re the adjectival captain,” Ian Chappell wrote in his column for The Daily Telegraph.
Chappell said as he we walked on to the ground for the afternoon session, the crowd was singing Come on Aussie, Come on and Rodney Marsh said to me: “We''re back.”
He said: “That was the moment the players felt like they''d been accepted as The Australian team. It was also the moment the WSC staff saw a reward for their hard work.
“From that revolution came day/night cricket, much improved television coverage and more skilful marketing of the game and the players. These are just a few of the more important improvements that came as a direct result of the stand the players took in the late ''70s.”
Chappel writes Kerry was an extremely competitive individual and a proud man. He took great pride in his television network and demanded a high standard of work.
© ANI
