Exclusive: How Kerry Packer's cricket revolution was almost no-balled by the Reserve Bank | swrighteconomy
Kerry Packer’s cricket revolution of the 1970s was almost derailed by the Reserve Bank, which considered blocking the overseas payments of some of the greatest stars of World Series Cricket.can reveal archival documents held by the bank show its foreign exchange control department was initially very sceptical of Packer’s proposal to pay unknown people for “personal services” for Channel Nine*.
So-called “SuperTests” and one day matches would be played between Australia and some of the world’s best players under the World Series Cricket banner that ultimately changed the way cricket was played and marketed. John Kitto, secretary of the company JP Sport, had spoken to RBA officials on March 25 – just a week after the Centenary Test.The victorious team included Greg Chappell, Rod Marsh, Dennis Lillee and David Hookes. They, and others, would next represent Packer’s WSC Australia at the old VFL Park in Melbourne in December that year.
In a diary note written the day after Kitto’s letter, senior Reserve Bank staff expressed concern about the lack of information about the entire endeavour. Kitto, it was noted, was “most vague” about the proposal. Pakistan cricket great Imran Khan was one of the early international players to sign up to play World Series Cricket.RBA Archives ECM-A-216
So anxious was Kitto about the issue, that a person was sent to the RBA building in central Sydney to wait on the bank’s final decision.
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