In November 1978, the tide began to turn decisively in the favour of World Series Cricket after the first day-night match between Australian and West Indian XIs. That attracted a near-capacity crowd of close to 45,000, and the television audience figures were encouraging.
Meanwhile, the official Australian team had been outclassed by England in the first Ashes Test match, and the slow, grinding cricket played by both sides alienated spectators.
The Australian fans increasingly demanded their national side should be allowed to return to full strength again.
WSC was prospering meanwhile. Audiences enjoyed the diet of night-time play. Combined with aggressive marketing campaigns, ratings began to soar.
The contrast in fortunes was then underpinned when the Supertest final at the Sydney Cricket Ground, played under lights, attracted 40,000 spectators over three days, almost twice as many as attended the Australia-England test on the same ground a week later.
WSC then headed to the West Indies for a closely contested series between Australia and West Indies. However, in an unexpected turn of events, it proved to be the last.
The Australia Cricket Board (ACB) in desperate financial straits, reached out to Kerry Packer and a series of meetings was held in the spring of May 1979.
Packer’s Channel Nine had not only won the exclusive rights to broadcast Australian Test cricket, which had been the driving motivation in the first place, but he was also given a ten-year contract, through a separate company, to market and promote the game.
He had got everything he wanted and more!
Although it took a little while longer, more substandard performances saw most WSC rebels being reintegrated into the Australian Test side. However, residual resentments between those who had joined the breakaway series and those who had stayed loyal to the ACB remained for years.
Elsewhere, rebels were gradually reabsorbed into international sides, whilst One-Day cricket became an increasing part of overseas tours.
The Packer Revolution spanned only two years, but had a greater effect on the game of cricket than any comparable event before or since.
The Australian businessman described his venture as philanthropic. While it is hard to get away from the fact that it was largely driven by money, it is also difficult to argue that it was not, in the long run, of great benefit to the sport.