The Godfather of Cricket’s Modern Era

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – DECEMBER 27: (FILE PHOTO) Kerry Packer arrives at a gala 70th Anniversary dinner event for the Australian magazine icon.

Kerry Packer (17th December 1937 – 26th December 2005), also known as the Godfather of Cricket’s modern era, was an Australian media tycoon who transformed the staid world of cricket with his rebel World Cricket Series in the late 1970’s. Packer introduced night play, a white ball and coloured uniforms, and gave limited-overs cricket a wide exposure to a television audience that was tiring of Test match coverage- which could last days without producing a winner. Modern cricket broadcasting wouldn’t have been the way it is if it hadn’t been for Kerry Packer.

Originally rejected by cricket administrators, and derided for what some called “pajama cricket” when he launched his World Series in 1977, Packer became one of the game’s biggest power brokers. Very few people in the history of the game, either players or administrators, can be said to have changed the game, but Kerry Packer can rightly be considered someone who really did it without playing even the first-class cricket.

Every cricketer playing the game today, at all levels, and those who desire to do better in future must know about this man, who first thought of making the game an integral part of our daily life.