World Series Cricket - September 1977
A timeline of events in World Series Cricket during September 1977
David Frith
22-Oct-2007
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It is confirmed that Fred Trueman will be a member of Channel 9's TV commentary team.
September 5 The Professional Cricketers' Association, at its extraordinary meeting at Edgbaston, votes 139 to 36 in favour of calling upon the TCCB and the ICC to reopen negotiations with Packer, conditional upon his altering his match dates so as not to clash with Australia's Test matches against India. A second motion, proposed by John Whitehouse and seconded by Ray Illingworth, that county cricketers playing in the Packer series should be banned by the TCCB, is carried 91 to 77. Illingworth says that any other course would "make English cricket a breeding ground and creaming-off centre for future circuses".
Tony Greig, who had asked for a year's moratorium during which the Packer company would do no more recruiting, says that the meeting is a waste of time and the motions are contradictory.
September 6 A third of the TV sponsorship for the Packer series is said already to be booked.
September 7 Australian Cricket Board chairman Bob Parish issues a statement - nine foolscap pages in length - to "set the record straight and for the board to answer and correct some of the criticism and statements published in the past weeks" now that the tour of UK is over. He refers to a board statement in 1974 wherein it was resolved that the players would be paid the maximum the board could afford, taking into consideration its responsibility overall to Australian cricket at all levels. The principle was unanimously accepted by the five State captains at a meeting on December 22, 1976. Reference is also made to remarks by Greg Chappell in his book The 100th Summer concerning the sponsorship of the Test team for three years. "It's hardly surprising," writes Chappell, "that Australia leads the way in providing a far better deal for the cricketers".
The board statement goes on to point out that the Australian players received $2430 for the 35-day tour of New Zealand, and $2277 for participating in the Centenary Test match ("not $300, as has been alleged"). Payment for the UK tour was $10,890 ("not $6000, as has been stated"). A player representing Australia in all Tests in 1977 would earn "nearly $22,000". The match fee for each Test against India is to be $800, to which will be added expenses, and shares of prize money and sponsorship, giving a minimum total of $1852 and a maximum of $2102. Sponsorship of the Gillette Cup is also to be increased (by 46%), with more prize money going to the players.
The statement suggests that comparisons between payments to cricketers and to golfers or tennis players is "ludicrous". The latter, who pay their own expenses, have a world market at their disposal. Their earnings depend on performance. Test cricketers are paid equally, "regardless of individual performances and even if a match is washed out".
Details of negotiations for television rights are then recounted, concluding with the statement: "Other than the verbal offer made to the television sub-committee on the 22nd June, 1976, no offer or proposal from the 9 Network for exclusive television rights of Australian cricket has been received by the board."
In conclusion, it is revealed that the board is considering requiring all players to sign a contractual agreement with the board before playing in a Test or Sheffield Shield match or any other match under the aegis of the board. This is prompted by strict promotional commitments to team sponsors, especially Benson & Hedges (Aust), who are investing $350,000 in sponsorship of the Australian XI.
September 10 Chris Old turns down an offer to sign for Kerry Packer, as has England physiotherapist Bernard Thomas. West Indies fast bowler Joel Garner becomes Packer's latest recruit.
September 12 Jamaica board president Alan Rae says that the West Indies Board plans to raise private money to recompense its Test players if they will withdraw from their Packer contracts. He explains that their absence from home Tests would reduce revenue to the point where the staging of further Tests in the Caribbean would be impossible.
Ray Bright, Richie Robinson, and Max Walker are left out of Victoria's State squad, but David Hookes practises with the South Australian squad. The six NSW players signed with Packer will have to seek permission from the NSWCA executive before playing grade (club) cricket.
September 14 The NSWCA executive gives club delegates no specific instructions on the matter, and it is assumed that Ian Davis, Gary Gilmour, Rick McCosker, Kerry O'Keeffe, Len Pascoe, and Doug Walters will be allowed to play grade cricket until such time as commitments to Kerry Packer may bring them into conflict with Association matches.
Greg Chappell and Martin Kent are to be allowed to continue playing for their Brisbane clubs.
September 19 Ashley Mallett signs with Packer, on a one-year basis, with option. Bruce Laird, of Western Australia, also signs. The governing committee of World Series Cricket Pty Ltd, as Packer's cricket promotion company is now known, is made up of Richie Benaud, Brian Treasure (administrative controller), Bob Cowper, John Gleeson, (both former Test players), and Geoff Forsaith (former grade cricketer). Ian Chappell and one of the overseas players will represent the cricketers.
September 23 The Australian Cricket Board seeks an injunction in the Federal Court, under the Trade Practices Act, pre-venting Kerry Packer from using "misleading" terms in his advertising campaign. Words objected to are "Tests" and "Australian team".
September 26 The High Court hearing, before Mr Justice Slade, opens in London. World Series Cricket Pty Ltd, together with Tony Greig, Mike Procter, and John Snow, seek injunctions on the ICC and the Test and County Cricket Board to prevent them from banning World Series players from Test and other first-class cricket.
Mr Robert Alexander, QC, opens the case for the plaintiffs, with Mr Michael Kempster, QC, leading the defence. Mr Alexander claims that the TCCB and the ICC had "over-reacted" to Packer's plans and had tried to set up "what can only be described as a 19th century lockout". The ban, he says, is "illogical, dictatorial and penal" and "a naked restraint of trade". He points out that Snow has no future in Test cricket, and neither, because of South Africa's ineligibility, has Procter. Their absence from English first-class cricket, together with that of a number of others threatened by the ban, would reduce its attractiveness to the public. Greig earned less than £10,000 pa from playing cricket, he states, Snow less than £4000, and Procter £7500. He claims that the advent of Packer's proposed series has already encouraged the authorities to improve players' earnings. New sponsors have been found, including Cornhill Insurance, who are putting £1m into English Test cricket over the next five years. This was, says Mr Alexander, "a controversy which has passionately divided cricket in this country".
Bob Willis announces he will not be joining World Series Cricket. His county and Test match earnings (covered in part by an insurance policy), together with revenue from his agents, Championship Sporting Specialists Ltd, should bring him more than the £ 15,000 pa offered by Packer's company; Warwickshire may also bring forward his testimonial.
The Federal Court hearing, before Mr Justice St John, QC, opens in Sydney. September 27: Day 2 of the High Court hearing - Mr Alexander's opening address continues all day. He compares Bob Woolmer's TCCB contract for the 1976-77 winter tour unfavourably with his recent World Series contract, and suggests that cricketers have a minimum of security in their engagements with their counties. Referring to a ban at Test level as a new concept, he cites the case of Geoff Boycott, who made himself unavailable for England for nearly three years and yet was allowed to continue to play for Yorkshire. He points out that the Australian Board had joined forces with the Australian Broadcasting Commission in trying to force the TCCB into accepting a lower bid for TV rights for the 1977 England-Australia series.
In Sydney the Federal Court reserves its decision on the application for an interim injunction, sought by the Board, to restrain World Series Cricket from referring to its matches as `Super Tests' or `Tests' or `Test series'.
In Perth the WA Cricket Council announces a total ban on Ross Edwards, Bruce Laird, Dennis Lillee, Mick Malone, and Rod Marsh.
September 28 Day 3 of the High Court hearing - Tony Greig, giving evidence, says that the administrators needed "a jolly good shake-up". He had expected "a big blow-up in the initial stages" when he joined the Packer group, "but I did not expect that they would blackball us altogether". He explains his resentment that players' wives are allowed only 21 nights with their husbands in their hotel rooms while on Test tours. Alan Knott, he says, was almost lost to England on the 1976-77 tour over this issue. He had expected things to improve as a result of the Packer development. "I have already been proved right," he says, pointing to the increase of Test fees from £210 to £1000. "That would have taken 100 years." He was unimpressed by the argument that restraint had been needed under the Pay Code. Cross-examined by Mr Kempster, he agrees that the administrators are not in the game for personal profit, and that recent tax-free benefits of £35,000, £27,000, and £24,000 have been received by Dennis Amiss, Alan Knott, and Derek Underwood respectively. Mr Kempster is able to add that Basil D'Oliveira received a benefit of £45,000.
September 29 Day 4 of the High Court hearing - Answering further questions from Mr Kempster, Greig says he had an oral undertaking from Packer that he would join his company at the end of his cricket career, working possibly in television, and receiving assistance in the purchase of a house in Australia. For playing in the World Series he was to receive £18,750 pa plus £6250 for captaining a team and for consultancy. He denies having acted as an agent for Packer in signing other players. He had been given an assurance that Packer would not encroach on England, but goes on to tell Mr Justice Slade that he and others might be under contract to play for Packer while the 1978-79 Australia-England series was in progress.
John Snow says that he has "had nightmares" about the possibility of having to become an umpire when his playing days are over. He tells Mr Kempster that he believes the game would best be served if players were allowed to play for Packer without interruption to official Tests, and for the Packer matches to become part of cricket.
September 30 Day 5 of the High Court hearing - Snow says he was not surprised by the ban: "When the donkey kicks you know which way it kicks." He felt he had done "a great deal" for professional cricket by signing with the Packer organisation. He planned to resign from the Cricketers Association because they were not militant enough. During his 12-year career players had repeatedly asked for greater remuneration, without success.
Mike Procter recalls that he sought no legal advice before signing his Packer contract, feeling that he understood it. It had been intimated that there would be no interference with county cricket. He felt that the ban would not foster interest in English cricket.
At 2.05 pm Kerry Packer is called to the witness stand. He explains that, like his father before him, who had sponsored Australia's America's Cup entry, he wished to contribute to the nation's sport. He had lost money on golf promotions over three or four years. Hiving seen the dramatic improvement in his own son's cricket after coaching he had decided to spend $200,000 on a coaching scheme in Australia, with his World Series and some county players participating. When his offers for TV rights were not accepted by the Australian Board he "got the message that they were playing ducks and drakes with us." Asked about the reaction of players when offered contracts by his company, he replies, "The alacrity with which they joined was frightening." Asked if it was true that he would pay off his recruits once he had obtained the television rights, he answers that this was beyond his comprehension. "There was no loophole. We committed ourselves and the players committed themselves. I suggest they (the TCCB) are being dishonest." He believed that the refusal to grant him exclusive TV rights in Australia was "a deliberate attempt by the ICC to break down negotiations." His company's coverage by satellite of the 1977 series had been a big success and had made a good profit. He had offered $½m pa for five years for exclusive coverage of home Tests, but the offer had been rejected "outside of business reasons" by the Australian Board. Instead they had accepted a total of $85,000 for three years from the ABC. He says that if there is no ban, he will not attempt to stage matches in England; but if there is, "then that facility to come to this country is there."
The Sydney Cricket Ground Trust, newly-formed, reverses its July decision not to allow the ground to be used for World Series matches. Chairman Pat Hills announces that the company had paid a considerable sum to use the ground for 13 days in December and January.