Packer ... died on Monday.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP):
WEST INDIES cricketers mourned on Tuesday the death of Kerry Packer, an Australian tycoon who broke away from cricket's world authority to revolutionise the game.
Packer died late Monday at his Sydney home. He was 68.
"Kerry was a great motivator. Although he used the stick when it was needed he preferred to use the carrot. He knew how to reach his people," read a joint statement from Dr. Rudi Webster, manager of the West Indies team in the 1977-1979 World Series Cricket, and Clive Lloyd, team captain during those years.
"By word and deed he made his players feel special and important."
Originally shunned by cricket administrators, Packer broke away from the International Cricket Council (ICC) and introduced night matches, a white ball and coloured uniforms.
'PAJAMA CRICKET'
Many West Indies cricketers signed on to Packer's World Series Cricket - which he launched in 1977 to derision from some who dubbed it 'pajama cricket'.
"He brought life to cricket where there was no life. He brought financial gains to players who were not making much, or not making what they deserved. He brought joy to the fans and changed up the way the game was viewed," Webster told the Associated Press in a telephone interview from the Caribbean island of Grenada.
Packer also gave limited-overs cricket wide exposure to a TV audience that was tiring of test match coverage.
"This loss is not only felt by players, but also by people in the Caribbean who recognise and appreciate his significant contribution to West Indies and West Indies cricket," the statement said.
After Packer's tournament disbanded in 1979, the West Indies went 15 years without losing an official Test series.
"The players are particularly grateful to him for helping them to see who they were, what they were and what they were capable of becoming," Webster's and Lloyd's statement said.
