Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer, AC (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon. The son of Sir Frank Packer and Gretel Bullmore, the Packer family company owned controlling interest in both the Nine television network and leading Australian publishing company Australian Consolidated Press, which were later merged to form Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL).

Packer was known for his abrasive personality, his wealth, his lavish gambling habits, his expansive business empire and his clashes with the Australian Taxation Office and the Costigan Royal Commission.

At the time of his death, Packer was the richest and one of the most influential men in Australia. In 2004, Business Review Weekly magazine estimated Packer's net worth at A$6.5 billion.^[1]

Business[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Packer, through his family company Consolidated Press Holdings, was the major shareholder with a 37% holding in Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL). Until Packer's death PBL owned the Nine television network, and Australian Consolidated Press which produces many of Australia's top-selling magazines. He was involved in a number of other gambling and tourism ventures, notably Crown Casino in Melbourne. The Nine Network and Australian Consolidated Press businesses have since been divested to PBL Media.

Packer was widely respected in business circles, courted by politicians on both sides, and was widely regarded^{[by whom?]} as one of the most astute businessmen of his time, despite having been a poor student.

Although Packer's reputation as an astute businessman was legendary and he made some good investments, he was by no means a self-made man – his grandfather Robert Clyde Packer and his father Sir Frank Packer had built up the media empire and its related holdings over many decades. As pointed out by internet news outlet Crikey if $100 million had been invested in the Australian sharemarket in September 1974 through a balanced portfolio of the top 200 companies, that portfolio would be worth a lot more than $6.9 billion in December 2005, possibly as much as $11 billion ^[2]

Moreover, Packer was not the first choice to take over the running of the family's business empire – his father had intended that Kerry's older brother Clyde Packer would take over the company, but Clyde fell out with his father in the early 1970s and left Australia permanently.

Kerry's independent business life began after his father's death in 1974 when he inherited control of the family's controlling share in PBL, valued at A$100 million. Further, his principal Australian investments in television and casinos were highly protected from competition by government regulation which Packer and his employees worked very hard to have maintained.

The Packer family's business reputation suffered a blow when One.Tel, a telephone company in which his son James Packer had invested, collapsed in 2001.

Kerry Packer was also one of Australia's largest landholders. In 2003 a deposit of rubies was discovered on one of his properties.

The Packer empire includes magazines and television networks, telecommunications, petrochemicals, heavy engineering, a 75% stake in the Perisher Blue ski resort, diamond exploration, coalmines and property, a share in the Foxtel cable TV network, and investments in the lucrative casino business in Australia and overseas.

Media interests[link]

The "Packer Empire"[link]

The Packer family has long been involved in media. Packer's grandfather Robert Clyde Packer owned two Sydney newspapers whilst his father, Sir Frank Packer, was one of Australia's first media moguls, and Kerry's son, James Packer, is Executive Chairman of PBL.

Sir Frank wanted Kerry to experience work in the Newspaper Industry from the ground up, so Packer started in the loading dock of the Sydney newspaper The Telegraph, loading papers.

He was not originally destined for the role, but in the early 1970s Kerry took the place of the designated successor, his older brother, the late Clyde Packer, after Clyde fell out with their father, quit PBL and moved to America. Kerry took over the running of PBL in 1974, on the death of his father.

Alan Bond media buyback[link]

In 1987 Packer made a fortune at the expense of disgraced tycoon Alan Bond. It was widely reported that he sold Bond the Nine Network at the record price of A$1.05 billion in 1987, and then bought it back three years later for a mere A$250 million, when Bond's empire was collapsing. Packer later quipped; "You only get one Alan Bond in your lifetime, and I've had mine".^[3] Packer was then able to re-invest the proceeds in a 25% share in the Foxtel pay TV consortium.

After the sale to Bond, Packer said that he had regretted the decision to sell Nine and wished he had not gone through with the transaction. At the 2006 PBL AGM, Kerry's son James told of the true complexities of the deal. Kerry received A$800 million in cash, with A$250 million left in Bond Media as subordinated debt. As Alan Bond went under, Packer converted the subordinated debt into a 37% stake in Bond Media.

There remained A$500 million of debt sitting in Bond Media. Packer received $800 million in cash before receiving a free 37% equity stake that put a debt-included value of A$500 million on the Nine Network, which by then included Channel Nine in Brisbane.^[4]

Hands-on business approach[link]

Packer was known to sometimes take a direct interest in the editorial content of his papers, although he was far less interventionist than the notoriously hands-on Rupert Murdoch.

Packer also occasionally interfered directly in the programming of his TV stations; in 1992 he famously called his Sydney station, TCN-9 and ordered its personnel to "Get that shit off the air," referring to Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos hosted by Doug Mulray, which was cut during its first and only airing on national television. (It has since aired in its entirety).

It was also said that he often manipulated broadcasts of cricket himself, in order to ensure that the end of a cricket match was broadcast, despite previously set television broadcast schedules.

Government inquiry and legal challenges[link]

Packer faced a 1991 Australian government inquiry into the print media industry with some reluctance, but great humour. When asked to state his full name and the capacity in which he appeared, he replied: "Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer. I have appeared here reluctantly."

Packer fronted the inquiry over allegations that he had some secret control over the content of the Fairfax papers (an organisation that Packer had wished to purchase for sometime, but was restricted from via cross media ownership laws).

During the inquiry he repeatedly berated the politicians conducting it, and the government. When asked about his company's tax minimisation schemes, he replied: "Of course I am minimising my tax. And if anybody in this country doesn't minimise their tax, they want their heads read, because as a government, I can tell you you're not spending it that well that we should be donating extra!"

At the time of his death, the Nine Network was the jewel in the PBL crown. Although it had a tough year in 2005 against rival Seven Network (aided largely by US TV hits such as Desperate Housewives and Lost) Nine still finished the year as the number one network.

Founder of World Series Cricket[link]

Outside Australia, Packer was best known for founding World Series Cricket. In 1977 the Nine Network cricket rights deal led to a confrontation with the cricket authorities, as top players from several countries rushed to join him at the expense of their international sides.

One of the leaders of the "rebellion" was England captain Tony Greig. Greig remains a commentator on the Nine Network's payroll. Packer's aim was to secure broadcasting rights for Australian cricket, and he was largely successful. In the 1970s the global cricket establishment fiercely opposed Packer in the courts. To counter the establishment, Packer hired the ten best Senior Counsels in the UK and put them on retainers, stipulating that they were not to take on any additional work during the court case (the sole purpose of which was to deny the establishment the best legal minds to prosecute their case). When he died he was mourned with a minute's silence at the MCG as one of the most influential figures in the history of the sport.

Packer was famously quoted from a 1976 meeting with the Australian Cricket Board, with whom he met to negotiate the rights to televise cricket. According to witnesses, he said: "There is a little bit of the whore in all of us, gentlemen. What is your price?"^[5]

Controversy[link]

Packer was often the centre of controversy. One of the earliest incidents occurred in 1962, when his father was trying to take over the Anglican Press, a small publisher run by Francis James. According to author Richard Neville, Frank Packer was angered by James' refusal to sell the Anglican Press, so he sent Kerry and some burly friends to pressure him into selling. They forced their way in and reportedly began vandalising the premises, but James was able to barricade himself in his office and call his friend Rupert Murdoch, Packer's most powerful rival. Murdoch quickly dispatched his own team of 'heavies', who threw Kerry and friends out. Not surprisingly, the Murdoch press had a field day with the news that the son of Australia's biggest media tycoon had been caught brawling in the street.^[6]

Like Murdoch, Packer's critics saw his ever-expanding cross-media holdings as a potential threat to media diversity and freedom of speech. He also repeatedly came under fire for his companies' alleged involvement in tax evasion schemes and for the extremely low amounts of company tax that his corporations are reported to have paid over the years. He fought repeated battles with the Australian Taxation Office over his corporate taxes.

His most severe legal challenge came in 1984 with the Costigan Commission alleging (using the codename of "the squirrel", renamed "the Goanna" in media reports^[7]) that he was involved in tax evasion and organised crime, including drug trafficking. He successfully counter-attacked the Commission with the assistance of his counsel Malcolm Turnbull. In 1987 the charges were formally dismissed by Federal Attorney-General Lionel Bowen. Mystery still surrounds Packer's receipt of a "loan" of A$225,000 in cash from Brian Ray, a bankrupt Queensland businessman.^[8] When questioned about this transaction at the Costigan Royal Commission Packer said "...I like cash. I have a squirrel mentality. I like to keep money in cash. It is by no means the most cash I ever had in my life."^[9]

Notwithstanding the significant efforts made to preserve his security and privacy, Packer suffered two mysterious break-ins at his companies' headquarters in Park Street, Sydney:

• in 1995 A$5.4 million worth of gold bars, and a Vegemite jar full of gold nuggets, the provenance of which was never publicly explained, were stolen from Packer's personal safe;^{[10][dead link]}
• in 2003 a licenced Glock 9 mm semi-automatic pistol was stolen from a desk drawer on the executive level. Packer was not charged with failing to "keep safe" the weapon but he did subsequently surrender his firearms licence.^[11]

Packer courted controversy by breaking the sports boycott of apartheid South Africa which prevented South African sportsmen from representing their country. Packer chose to break it by recruiting a number of prominent South African cricketers to play on his World Series Cricket Team. His timing was heavily criticised, coming just months after the Soweto riots and the death of Steve Biko, murdered by the members of the South African security forces.

Personal life[link]

His primary schooling suffered greatly when he was stricken with a severe bout of poliomyelitis at age eight, and he was confined to an iron lung for nine months. His father apparently thought little of his son's abilities, once cruelly describing him as "the family idiot", although Kerry subsequently steered PBL to heights far beyond anything his father or brother achieved. This nickname his father gave Kerry made him strive to new heights in schooling, trying to achieve "A" grades, his end of year report said he was one of the most notable students. In an interview, former employee Trevor Sykes stated that " He didn't read much on the printed page. If you didn't want Kerry to read something, you wrote more than a one-page memo.".^[12]

Kerry Packer and his wife of 42 years, Roslyn Packer, AO (nee Weedon), had two children, a daughter Gretel (born 1966), and a son James. At the time of Packer's death, he and Ros had two grandchildren, Francesca then 10, and Ben, then 7, from Gretel's first marriage to British financier Nick Barham,^[13] and Gretel and her husband Shane Murray were expecting their first child together, William (born 2006).^[14] Gretel and Shane married just before Packer's death.^[15]

Packer was a keen polo player, a longtime heavy smoker and an avid gambler, fabled for his titanic wins and losses. In 1999, it was reported that a three-week losing streak at London casinos cost him almost A$28 million—described at the time as the biggest reported gambling loss in British history.

The same report stated that he had once won A$33 million at the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas and that he often won as much as A$7 million each year during his annual holidays in the UK. Packer's visits were a risky affair for the casinos, as his wins and losses could make quite a difference to the finances of even bigger casinos. Packer was also known for his sometimes volcanic temper, and for his perennial contempt for journalists who sought to question his activities.

Packer is famously quoted for an exchange in a poker tournament at the Stratosphere Casino, where a Texan oil investor was attempting to engage him in a game of poker. Upon the Texan saying "I'm worth $60,000,000!" Packer apparently pulled out a coin and asked nonchalantly, "heads or tails?", referring to a A$120 million wager (according to Bob Stupak's biography). Some variations of the story put the sum at A$60 million to A$100 million and claim the line was "I'll toss you for it".

In the late 1990s it is reported that he walked into a major London casino and played £15 million on four roulette tables on his own and lost it all. He subsequently simply walked out of the casino with no regrets. This has been confirmed by casino owners in South East England.

Packer is known to have conducted extra-marital affairs with a number of women including the late model Carol Lopes—who reportedly committed suicide after being shunned by Packer—publisher and former ConPress employee Ita Buttrose, and Julie Trethowan, his long-time mistress and manager (from 1983) of the Packer-owned Sydney city health and fitness club, the Hyde Park Club. After his death, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that from about 1995, Packer transferred control of multi-million-dollar Sydney real estate holdings to Trethowan.^[16][17][18]

In June 2009 the Sydney Morning Herald reported that former Federal Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull – a former legal adviser and business associate of Packer – revealed to journalist Annabel Crabb that Packer had threatened to have him killed when they fell out over their 1991 attempt to take over the Fairfax newspaper group through their Tourang consortium. Mr Packer reportedly made the threat after Turnbull told Packer he was going to have him thrown out of the consortium by revealing Packer's intention to play an interventionist role in the newspaper group.

"He told me he'd kill me, yeah. I didn't think he was completely serious, but I didn't think he was entirely joking either. Look, he could be pretty scary. He did threaten to kill me and I said to him: 'Well, you'd better make sure that your assassin gets me first because, if he misses, you better know I won't miss you.' He could be a complete pig, you know. He could charm the birds out of the trees, but he could be a brute."^[19]

Failing health[link]

Packer reportedly suffered as many as eight heart attacks. In 1990, while playing polo at Warwick Farm, Sydney, he suffered a heart attack that left him clinically dead for six minutes. Packer was revived by paramedics and then airlifted to St Vincent's Private Hospital, Sydney and received a bypass surgery from Dr Victor Chang (a pioneering cardiac surgeon). It was not common for an ambulance to have a defibrillator at the time — it was purely by chance that the ambulance which responded to the call had one fitted. After recovering, Packer donated a large sum to the Ambulance Service of New South Wales to pay for equipping all NSW ambulances with a portable defibrillator (now colloquially known as "Packer Whackers"). He told Nick Greiner "I'll go you 50/50", and the NSW State government paid the other half of the cost. In a press conference he later remarked on his temporary oblivion "I’ve been to the other side and let me tell you, son, there’s fucking nothing there...there’s no one waiting there for you, there’s no one to judge you so you can do what you bloody well like".

He also suffered from a chronic kidney condition for many years, and in 2000 he made headlines when his long-serving helicopter pilot, Nick Ross, donated one of his own kidneys to Packer for transplantation.

The transplant was covered in detail by the Australian TV documentary program Australian Story, a rare occasion on which Packer granted a media interview (and, to the surprise of many, not to his own network; Australian Story is produced by the public network, ABC).

After recovering from the operation, Packer launched an organ transplant association in memory of cricketer David Hookes.

Death[link]

Kerry Packer died of kidney failure on 26 December 2005, aged 68 years at home in Sydney, Australia, with his family by his bedside.^[3] Knowing that his health was failing, he instructed his doctors not to treat him with curative intent or by artificially prolonging his life with dialysis. He told his cardiologist earlier in the week that he was "running out of petrol" and wanted to "die with dignity".

Packer's death was announced to the public by broadcaster Richard Wilkins, on the Nine Network's Today program:^[20]

"Mrs Kerry [Ros] Packer and her children James and Gretel sadly report the passing last evening of her husband and their father Kerry. He died peacefully at home with his family at his bedside. He will be lovingly remembered and missed enormously. Arrangements for a memorial service will be announced."

His private funeral service was held on 30 December 2005 at the family's country retreat, Ellerston, near Scone in the Hunter Valley.^[14]

In 2007, The Chaser's Andrew Hansen made passing mention of Packer's death in "The Eulogy Song", which was one of The Chaser's more controversial and well-known stunts.

State Memorial Service[link]

The Packer family accepted an offer of a state memorial service, which was held on 17 February 2006 at the Sydney Opera House. The granting of this taxpayer-funded honour was criticised by some members of the community as Packer was famous for his tax minimisation.^[21] At the memorial service, close friend Alan Jones was Master of Ceremonies, which featured speeches from son and heir James, Russell Crowe on behalf of daughter Gretel Packer, Prime Minister John Howard and Richie Benaud. Attendees included Tom Cruise (a friend of James Packer) and his partner Katie Holmes, Greg Norman, members of the Australian cricket team, and past and present figures from both sides of politics.^[21]

Philanthropy[link]

The Kerry Packer Civic Gallery within the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre of the University of South Australia was endowed by the Packer family.^[22]

Further reading[link]

• Barry, Paul (1993). The Rise and Rise of Kerry Packer. Sydney: Bantam/ABC Books. ISBN 1-86359-075-7. 
• Westfield, Mark (2000). The Gatekeepers. Sydney/London: Pluto Press/Comerford and Miller. ISBN 1-86403-102-6. 
• Stone, Gerald (2000). Compulsive Viewing: the inside story of Packer's Nine Network. Ringwood, Victoria: Viking. ISBN 0-670-88690-4. 
• Stone, Gerald (2007). Who Killed Channel 9?. Sydney: Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4050-3815-7. 

See also[link]

• James Packer, Only son of Kerry Packer
• Kerry Packer Foundation

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Kerry Packer

• Publishing and Broadcasting Limited
• Australian Consolidated Press
• Kerry Packer media profile
• Shaw, John (27 December 2005). "Kerry Packer, 68, Australia's Media Magnate, Is Dead". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/27/obituaries/27packer.html?ex=1293339600&en=76709588cd2ec1d7&ei=5090. Retrieved 7 May 2010. 
• 1970s interview on Packer's childhood
• Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer, tycoon and transformer of cricket, died on 26 December, aged 68, Obituary, The Economist, (5 Jan 2006) - Retrieved 13 Jan 2012.
• Kerry Packer: Post a Tribute

Anthony William Greig (born 6 October 1946^[1]) is a former English Test cricketer turned commentator. Born in Queenstown, South Africa, Greig qualified to play for England by virtue of his Scottish parentage. He was a tall (6 feet 6 inches or 1.98 metres^[2]) batting all-rounder who bowled both medium pace and off spin. He became captain of his national side from 1975 to 1977 and also captained Sussex.^[1] Greig's younger brother, Ian, also played Test cricket.

A leading all-rounder in the County-game, Greig is thought by some former players and pundits to be one of England's leading international all-rounders.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} He was also, however, a sometimes controversial figure. He helped Kerry Packer start World Series Cricket by signing up many of his English colleagues as well as West Indian and Pakistani cricketers, a move which cost him the England captaincy. He is also noted for a controversial run-out of Alvin Kallicharran in a Test Match against the West Indies in 1974, and often clashed with Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee on the 1974–75 Ashes Tour in Australia.^[1] His infamous "grovel" statement in the lead to a 1976 tour of England by the West Indies met with severe criticism.

Early life and career[link]

Greig was born to a Scottish immigrant father and a South African-born mother and educated at Queen's College, Queenstown, South Africa. Many former Sussex players had been recruited to coach the cricket team at Queen's College: during Greig's schooldays, Jack Oakes, Alan Oakman, Ian Thomson, Ron Bell, Richard Langridge and Mike Buss all came from overseas for off-season work. All of them noticed Greig's developing abilities which, after a first-class debut for Border Province in the Currie Cup, led to a trial at Sussex when Grieg was 19. Greig's father helped him decide between university study or pursuit of the Sussex offer. "He used to slam into me for not reading enough, for being generally immature. He would look at me sometimes and say 'Boy, when I was your age I was fighting a war', but in the end he grinned and said: 'Go over to England for one year, one year mind, and see what you can do'".^[8]

When Greig scored 156 in 230 minutes against a strong Lancashire attack in his first game for Sussex, his future direction changed irrevocably.^[1] He wrote a brief note to his father, telling him he would not be coming back to go to university. Greig set a goal of making the England Test team in six years, though he returned to play in South Africa during the winter for a number of years, eventually transferring to Eastern Province for the 1970-71 season.

Controversy and triumph in the Caribbean[link]

Greig was now experimenting with finger-spin to complement his medium pace. He set off to the West Indies with the England team in early 1974 and ran straight into a major controversy. On the second day of the First Test at the Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad, the West Indies had cruised to a first innings lead of 143, thanks mainly to 142 not out from Alvin Kallicharran. With four wickets still in hand, the home team was in a dominant position when the last ball of the day was bowled to Bernard Julien, who blocked it past Greig (fielding in close on the off side) and then headed off to the pavilion with Kallicharran. However, Greig fielded the ball, whirled around, threw down the stumps, and appealed for a run out decision against Kallicharran.^[1] Umpire Douglas Sang Hue gave the batsman "out", and a near-riot broke out in the crowd. The spectators stormed the ground and laid siege to the pavilion, calling for the decision to be revoked. Technically, the decision was correct as Sang Hue had not called time on the day's play, but Greig's actions were considered unsporting, and together with the crowd's reaction, the England captain revoked the appeal.^[1] Kallicharran was reinstated the following day, when he took his score to 158. This was the only time a batsman had been reinstated in such circumstances during a Test Match—until 31 July 2011, when, during the Test match between England and India at Trent Bridge, England batsman Ian Bell was given out in similar circumstances after leaving the field at Tea, believing the last ball of the session had gone for four. He was subsequently reinstated during the interval when Indian captain M.S. Dhoni withdrew the appeal. Bell was 137 at the time and went on to score 159, very similar figures to those of Kallicharran.

The incident was a clear black mark against Greig's character, although some were prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt: Greig claimed that his actions were not premeditated, that his back was to the play and he was unaware that proceedings were over. If his actions had been premeditated, they would have been rather reckless given the risk of stirring up the notoriously volatile Trinidadian crowd. England convincingly lost the Test and Greig failed with bat and ball. It was a measure of his resolve and determination as a cricketer that he dominated the remainder of the series, scoring 430 runs at 47.7, taking 24 wickets (most of them with spin) at 22.6 and seven catches. He scored 148, backed up with six wickets, in the third Test in Barbados, 121 in the fourth Test in Guyana and won the fifth Test in Trinidad for his team with bowling figures of 8 for 86 and 5 for 70. Many of his victims in this game were gained via off-spin, a new addition to the Greig repertoire. This victory enabled England to draw the series, and Greig left the Caribbean, arguably the best all-rounder in the world. Some were talking up his prospects of taking over the English captaincy.

Road to the captaincy[link]

During the home summer of 1974, England faced three Tests against India and three against Pakistan. Overall, Greig averaged 41.5 with the bat and grabbed 14 wickets. His highlight was a century against India at Lord's. This was a good tune-up for the Ashes tour of Australia at year's end, where England would probably start favourite and Greig would be a key player. Shocked by the Australian fast bowling attack of Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee, most English batsmen struggled in the first Test at Brisbane. However, Greig played a lone hand with 110 in the first innings. As the series progressed, the Australian bowling overawed their opponents, apart from Greig, who lifted his standard and enhanced his reputation. He was the stand-out character in a losing team and won the admiration of the crowds and the Australian players, who liked his approach to the game.^{[citation needed]}

Greig played in the first World Cup in England in 1975, when his team was eliminated by Australia in the semi-final. Although ideally suited to the one-day game, Greig never really produced a major performance in the 22 ODIs that he played for England. After the tournament ended, Australia stayed on to play four Ashes Tests. England was humbled in the first match at Edgbaston, and blame fell on the captain Mike Denness, who had just endured a 1-4 defeat in Australia. Denness was sacked and Greig appointed, to high expectation that he would play aggressively and fearlessly in an endeavour to counteract the Australians' strengths.

Commercial skipper[link]

The transformation was swift. In the Second Test at Lord's, Greig received a huge ovation on his way to bat and delivered 96 runs. He scored 41 in the second innings and took three wickets in a drawn match that favoured England. The run continued in the next match at Leeds with England poised for victory at the end of the second last day. But vandals destroyed the pitch during the night and Greig agreed to abandon the match, thus conceding the Ashes. The final game ended in a long-winded draw. Even though he had failed to beat the best team in the world, Greig could be satisfied that he did not lose either.

With a long gap between England commitments, Greig headed to Australia for the 1975-76 season to play Grade cricket in Sydney. Greig was well known among colleagues as a man who wanted to take commercial advantage of his profile as a leading sportsman. He signed a number of endorsements and appeared in commercials in Australia, most famously in his ads for the new breakfast cereal "Nutri-Grain", where his catchphrase "It's just like a cricket bat with holes" struck a chord. He also took time to commentate and generally build his contacts in Australia, a country where his naturally gregarious personality seemed to fit better than his ancestral home in Britain.

"I intend to make them grovel"[link]

When he returned to England, Greig caused more controversy in the lead-up to the 1976 series against the West Indies. Appearing on television to discuss the coming summer, Greig's ebullient oratory created controversy when he expounded the West Indies players' reputation for wilting under pressure:

I like to think that people are building these West Indians up, because I'm not really sure they're as good as everyone thinks they are. I think people tend to forget it wasn't that long ago they were beaten 5-1 by the Australians and only just managed to keep their heads above water against the Indians just a short time ago as well. Sure, they've got a couple of fast bowlers, but really I don't think we're going to run into anything more sensational than Thomson and Lillee and so really I'm not all that worried about them. You must remember that the West Indians, these guys, if they get on top are magnificent cricketers. But if they're down, they grovel, and I intend, with the help of Closey and a few others, to make them grovel.^[9]

The outcry was instantaneous. The word "grovel" had sinister connotations for West Indian people, many of whom have slave ancestry. Moreover, apartheid and the Gleneagles Agreement were prominent issues of the day, so a white South African using the word "grovel" heavily accentuated the faux pas.

The West Indian fast bowlers took great delight in adding yards to their run-up when Greig came to the wicket and their supporters took equal delight when his wicket was captured. At times during the series, the West Indies were roundly criticised for their use of short-pitched bowling. To compensate for his unusual height and attempt to combat such bowling, Greig held the bat at shoulder height (rather than leave it on the ground) as the bowler ran in, thus not utilising a back swing of the bat. While it helped him to combat the short ball, it left him vulnerable to the yorker (full pitch) and he was bowled quite regularly for a top order batsman. The West Indian bowlers managed to hit Greig's stumps often. Apart from a formidable performance in the fourth Test at Leeds, where he fought back with 116 and 76 not out and shared a big partnership with keeper Alan Knott, Greig scored just 51 runs in seven innings. Worse, his bowling lost penetration and he took only five wickets as England slumped to a 0-3 loss.

Redemption in India[link]

The best performance of Greig's captaincy career came in 1976-77, when England toured India for a five-Test series. England had not won a Test series on the subcontinent for fifteen years and were clear underdogs against an Indian team that boasted some of the best spinners in the world and could count on the support of tens of thousands of vociferous fans who would fill the stadia. Greig made good use of his experience from his previous tour and consciously set out to build a rapport with the Indian crowd. England went on to score one of their most convincing wins in a very long time when they won the first three Tests by huge margins. Greig rated the win at Calcutta, when he scored 103 on a broken pitch, and struggling with a stomach bug, in front of 100,000 Indian fans, as the finest moment of his career.^[1] With 342 runs (at 42) and ten wickets, Greig had regained form to take with him to Australia.

Centenary Test and Packer[link]

After a brief sojourn in Sri Lanka, Greig's team arrived in Australia in March 1977 to prepare for a unique moment in the game's history. To commemorate 100 years of Australia vs England Test Matches, a one-off Test was organised for the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the venue of the first-ever Test. The associated functions and a gathering of hundreds of ex-players demonstrated the depth of the game and its history. Greig, recognising the spirit of the fixture, had his team play positively, and the match was still in the balance late on the last day before Australia won by 45 runs. Everyone marvelled at the margin, as it was the same as the first-ever Test, and there was a self-satisfied air to proceedings that would be shattered in just two months' time.

Greig had played well in the match (18 and 41, two wickets and four catches) and he left an open letter with a newspaper thanking the people of Melbourne for their support. The admiration was mutual and Greig's public standing was high. On his return home, a surprise crew was waiting to film an episode of This Is Your Life. As he sat through the tributes and emotion of the programme, Greig was preoccupied. Just weeks before, he had signed a contract with the owner of the Nine Network in Australia, Kerry Packer, to play cricket in a series that would take place during the next Australian summer. One could well imagine that Greig knew that many of the people he was enthusiastically greeting on This Is Your Life would be bitterly opposed to his new enterprise.^{[citation needed]}

Nevertheless, Greig helped Packer by signing a number of English and foreign players he was acquainted with. Great secrecy cloaked these signings, although Greig dropped a number of hints to friends not involved. The touring Australians arrived in England and they were scheduled to play Greig's Sussex team on 7–10 May 1977. The match was ruined by poor weather, but at a party held at Greig's house during the match, two Australian journalists discovered the secret signings and the news became public. Greig moved quickly to put his side of the story to friends, journalists and supporters, assuring all concerned that Packer would be good for the players and the game.

Although Greig had counted on a backlash, he was taken aback by the severity of the condemnation and vitriol that poured in his direction. His central role in the organisation of the breakaway troupe caused much annoyance and surely conflicted with his role as England captain. As the furore continued on, Greig became the focal point for critics, particularly because Packer was still an unknown in Britain. Finally, after a week of politicking, Greig was removed from the England captaincy.^[1]

Surprisingly, Greig retained his position in the team for the five Tests under his successor Mike Brearley. Jeering accompanied his appearance for the remainder of that summer. His form proved only average after he made a dramatic 91 at Lord's in the opening Test. England defeated a dispirited Australian team 3-0 to reclaim the Ashes after four games. Brearley convinced the Selectors to retain Greig for the last Test, and requested that he received a share of any bonus due to the team. Greig's Test career ended quietly at The Oval on 30 August 1977.

But his work for World Series Cricket (WSC, Packer's organisation) was just beginning. In September, backed by Packer, he was the plaintiff (along with Mike Proctor and John Snow) in a case against the English authorities (the TCCB), who were attempting to ban Packer's players from Test and first-class cricket. Greig was conspicuous throughout the trial and elated when the decision went in favour of WSC.

The lack of regular domestic cricket as well as the intensity of World Series Cricket brought a premature end to his career as he could not recover from a poor start in the first season. The super-Test final of the 1978-79 season was the last match Greig played at any level of cricket. During an interview on the eve of the match, he "promised" a century to the audience. He fell short by exactly 100 runs, caught behind off his arch rival, Dennis Lillee.

Epilepsy[link]

Greig first suffered an epileptic fit at the age of 14, during a tennis game. Successfully controlling the condition with medication and self management, largely by sleeping as and when he could during Test Matches, few knew about it for much of his playing career. He was often forewarned by auras. In 1971-72, he collapsed on the field during his first match for Eastern Province and half a dozen teammates were required to hold down his large frame. The incident was explained away as heat stroke thanks to sympathetic media and team management.

Returning from the tour of Australia in 1975, Greig suffered another fit at Heathrow Airport. His affliction became public during the Packer furore, when a number of commentators questioned his judgement in the matter and speculated that epilepsy impaired his ability to make decisions. These uninformed opinions were central to Greig's decision to leave England in 1979. "I am proud to have achieved so much despite such a handicap," he later wrote.

Later career[link]

After forming a bond with the Nine Network's Kerry Packer during the World Series Cricket days, Greig was offered a "job for life" by Packer as a commentator during Nine's cricket coverage.^[10] Greig now lives in Australia and continues his commentary role. During the 2006 Ashes Perth Test, on commenting on the need for England's Steve Harmison to intimidate Australia's number 11 Glenn McGrath, Greig indicated the need to "Touch him up, before rolling him over"^{[citation needed]} - much to the hilarity of his co-commentators.

Greig has commentated for Channel Four in the United Kingdom and for Sky Sports' coverage of England's 2012 tour of Sri Lanka. He currently hosts a regular weekly podcast called The Tony Greig Show for Cricinfo, covering international cricket matters and airing his forthright views in a section called "What's eating Tony Greig this week?".

In 1999 Greig was involved in a controversy when, in a match at the North Sydney Oval, the camera zoomed onto a couple in a marriage ceremony at a nearby church. Greig made a comment implying that the woman shown was a mail order bride: "Do you think she’s been flown in?".^[11] Grieg later said that the comment was made "off microphone and not intended for broadcast".

He also joined the Indian Cricket League as an Executive Board Member, but the league ultimately ceased with the growing popularity of Indian Premier League. Greig is a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).^[12]

Outside of cricket media he is a board member of the Epilepsy Association. More recently,^[when?] he was appointed as the brand ambassador for Sri Lanka Tourism. Initially the appointment is for six months, for which he is charging about USD 10,000.^[13]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Rae, Simon, It's Not Cricket, Faber and Faber Ltd., 2001. ISBN 0-571-21582-3
• Tossell, David, Grovel! The Story and Legacy of the Summer of 1976, Know The Score Books, 2007. ISBN 1-905449-43-7
• Tossell, David, Tony Greig, A Reappraisal of English Cricket's Most Controversial Captain, Pitch Publishing, 2011. ISBN 978-1-908051-01-1