KNOW MORE
BRADMAN & PACKER
THE DEAL THAT CHANGED CRICKET BY DANIEL BRETTIG, SLATTERY PUBLISHING, $24.95
If this were a stage play, you can imagine a terse two-hander: brash, blustering Packer, representing the forces of commerce and modernity, against the traditionalist icon of humble, old Australia, the Don. Instead, this is a deeply reported account of the manoeuvrings that brought an end to the cricket split of the 1970s, with the secret meeting of two of the nation’s most indelible public figures.
The popular conception had it that the two men disliked each other. It wasn’t the case, and didn’t prevent Packer from going to Bradman’s Adelaide home in 1979, where they agreed on terms to end the division caused by Packer’s World Series Cricket.
Daniel Brettig, a writer for ESPNCricinfo and author of, makes the case that both men were motivated to reach an outcome: the media mogul just wanted the television rights, and didn’t really want to run the game; the cricket icon was also a career stockbroker, keenly attuned to the value of money and the parlous state of the administration’s finances. The intrigue that accompanied the deal was largely down to Bradman’s desire to keep his involvement secret, yet even as he wound back his official duties in the ensuing years, the secrecy only served to boost his influence.
