Director Dianna Reid
Starring Lachy Hulme, Abe Forsythe, Damon Gameau
Rated M
Score 6/6

The story of how legendary media mogul Kerry Packer fought a cricket war by secretly signing up 50 of the world’s greatest players to form a breakaway tournament. Packer took on the Australian Cricket Board and MCCC in a war over TV rights and threw the cricket world into turmoil by creating ‘World Series Cricket’. He knew the players, who had been underpaid for years, were on the point of rebellion against the cricket authorities. His rebel games clashed head-on with official test matches, and the war was on. Polishing an idea by John Cornell, Packer fought a bitter two-year battle against the cricket establishment doing its best to protect the hundred-year legacy of pride in the traditional nature of the poorly paid game. The result changed cricket forever.

I did not watch this on its original run on Australian TV, I suppose the only reason that I came to watch this was a bargain opportunity on a recent DVD buying expedition.

For those of you who might not know I am way to young to have witnessed this first hand I was born in 1982 three years after the last season of world series cricket. Howzat doesn’t shy away from the fact that a degree of dramatic licence was taken with history (though there are a couple of scenes that I would like to know if they happened the way that they were portrayed. Including the sale of a major metropolitan newspaper that was referenced in passing). Especially given that two characters are noted as being fictional in the closing credits. It’s also clear that the plot of the mini-series was biased in favour of Kerry Packer, though I suppose for a completely unbiased telling of these events you would need the runtime of a complete television season.
Lachy Hulme as Kerry Packer, Mandy McElhinney as Rose Mitchell & Abe Forsythe John Cornell gave great performances. Hulme’s performance as Packer is particularly noteworthy because even though Packer was a bully and perhaps even a bit of a dick, he was the kind of person who had the commitment, depth of faith and the chequebook that was needed to change cricket.
The scene where David Hookes came back to cricket after breaking his jaw had me on the verge of tears.