World Series Cricket (WSC) was a commercial professional cricket competition staged between 1977 and 1979 which was organised by Kerry Packer and his Australian television network, Nine Network. WSC ran in commercial competition to established international cricket. World Series Cricket drastically changed the nature of cricket, and its influence continues to be felt today.
Dennis Lillee, one of WSC's star personalities who later claimed that WSC was originally his idea.
The NSW government paid for the installation of lights at the SCG in time for WSC's second season, 1978–79.
Examples of World Series Cricket marketing. The popular "C'mon Aussie C'mon" single and a World Series Cricket autograph book
Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling interest in both the Nine Network and the publishing company Australian Consolidated Press, which were later merged to form Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL). Outside Australia, Packer was best known for founding World Series Cricket. At the time of his death, he was the richest and one of the most influential men in Australia. In 2004, Business Review Weekly magazine estimated Packer's net worth at A$6.5 billion.
Packer at Parliament House in 1991