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LORD SPEAKS: My clash with Kerry Packer over World Series Cricket

Roar Guru
13th June, 2017
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Kerry Packer was the man behind World Series cricket.
Roar Guru
13th June, 2017
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1029 Reads

40 years ago cricket was revolutionised by Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket. Roar expert David Lord was heavily involved and it ended in a spat with Packer over the management of players.

Lord was the first man to interview Packer when the news of his breakaway competition arrived, but chief of staff Bob Johnson decided the interview would never go to air, and for Lord, his relationship with Packer fell apart.

“He called me in first which I couldn’t understand because there were Channel 9 people there. I spent 90 minutes with him – three reels of 30 minutes each,” said Lord.

But upon being told his network wouldn’t be promoting a rival’s network, Lord pointed out that this was the biggest cricket story to break since Bodyline.

Packer was never able to speak to Lord before the news that night.

“I went from being no.1 boy in the morning to public enemy no.1 by that evening and from that point on, we were clashing,” said Lord.

“Believe me. Being on the wrong side of Kerry Packer isn’t pleasant.”

Lord also speaks about issues dealing with Jeff Thompson, the high court case in England, the following Ashes Tour, as well as the Australian and English media match and being on the wrong side of Kerry Packer.

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Check out Lord’s full story on World Series Cricket in the video player above.

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