Book Review - The Cricket War by Gideon Haigh - Wisden, £12.99

It was the moment when cricket changed forever.

Australian cricket on TV had been a closed shop for many years with the players earning a pittance in comparison to today, but one man was determined to change that.

Kerry Packer took on the establishment with his Channel 9 TV station with a revolution in the game which was to be called World Series Cricket.

Things would never be the same again. He signed many of the world’s top players including Ian Chappell, Clive Lloyd and England captain Tony Greig.

He introduced coloured clothing, helmets, floodlit cricket and white balls, things that we now take as standard in the game today.

Gideon Haigh has written a definitive book on the subject entitled ‘The Cricket War’ and it has now been updated from it’s original publication in 1993 and been released for the first time in the UK this month.

The Aussie writer tracks the origins of the cricket ‘circus’, reflects on the matches themselves, the political fall-out and how that period from May 1977 is viewed today.

The book is published by Wisden and priced at £12.99.

An ideal read for cricket historians and lovers of the game, it could be an ideal stocking filler with Christmas coming up.