‘Let them eat cake’: Bradman, the Board & the Packer Revolution

Abstract

Sir Donald Bradman's role in the Packer revolution is largely unknown. As the Board's chairman in the early seventies, he paid players less than their market value which left them open to offers from outside promoters. As this chapter reveals, Bradman was not an astute businessman or an overly able administrator. His and the Board's refusal to bend to the players' demands for more money and a greater voice in the game's administration created the greatest rupture in Australian cricket history. Central to the dispute was Bradman's relationship with the Australian captain Ian Chappell. This chapter suggests that their differences reflected a generational divide between the Board and players that could not be bridged. The players had more in common with Bradman the player of the 1930s than Bradman the Chairman of the Board. It was the latter Bradman, and not the players, who sowed the seeds of the Packer revolution.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.