In May 1977, the cricket world awoke to discover that a thirty-nine-year-old Sydney Businessman called Kerry Packer had signed thirty-five elite international players for his own televised 'World Series'. The Cricket War is the definitive account of the split that changed the game on the field and on the screen.
In helmets, under lights, with white balls, and in coloured clothes, the outlaw armies of Ian Chappell, Tony Greig and Clive Lloyd fought a daily battle of survival. In boardrooms and courtrooms Packer and cricket's rulers fought a bitter war of nerves.
A compelling account of the top-class sporting life, The Cricket War also gives a unique insight into the motives and methods of the man who became Australia's richest, and remained so, until the day he died. It was the end of cricket as we knew it - and the beginning of cricket as we know it.
Gideon Haigh has published over thirty books, over twenty of them about cricket. This edition of The Cricket War, Gideon Haigh's first book about cricket originally published in 1993, has been updated with new photographs and a new introduction by the author.
About the Author
Gideon Haigh is an award winning independent journalist, who has written for more than a hundred newspapers and magazines over more than 30 years including
The Times, the Guardian, the Financial Times, the Australian, the Age and
the Cricketer. He has published over thirty books, over twenty of them about cricket, and edited several others.
Born in London, Haigh went to school in Geelong, and now lives in Melbourne.
Industry Reviews
A tremendous read... it's brimful of classic reportage, held together by a terrific storyline * The Times *
A fascinating account in masterly detail of an extraordinary episode in Australian cricket. Highly recommended
There are various claimants to the title of 'world's best cricket writer', yet no dispute about who, today, is the best writer on cricket. This is the Australian, Gideon Haigh
Haigh shows a supreme gift for old-fashioned journalistic foot-slogging and the art of telling a great story with a brisk, unfussy narrative. * The Times *
Haigh towers over the cricket writing landscape in Australia * Guardian *
The most detailed history of the 'war' so far * The Age *
Superbly researched and written * The Age *
The reverberations of the war are still being felt in Australia and in world cricket. This book will be timely for all those who want to understand what took place in the still recent past - and what could well happen in the near future * The Australian *
Haigh writes with wit, perception and a pace that rivals Roberts ... The Cricket War is an example of what can be done with fine writing, thorough and imaginative research and a mature approach to sports book publishing * The Sunday Age *
Arguably the best cricket book yet written
The Cricket War has been rightly acclaimed as a masterpiece of research
Informative and insightful * Choice Magazine *
