THE smash-hit mini-series Howzat has been given the thumbs-up by Byron Gray, who worked for the late Kerry Packer during the World Series Cricket revolution.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Gray accepted a job alongside another former Albury boy Ian Moore, who was second in charge to the man responsible for producing the pitches for WSC matches, John Maley.
Mr Gray said it was ironic two people from Albury worked for Packer in the mid-1970s and 35 years later another two Albury men were playing starring roles in Howzat, which concludes tomorrow night.
They are Alexander England (Tony Greig) and Travis McMahon (Paul Hogan).
Mr Gray also worked on The Australian golf course in Sydney for Packer, who largely bankrolled a redesign of the course by Jack Nicklaus, in the mid-1970s.
Mr Gray’s involvement with WSC remains a cherished memory.
He praised the Howzat researchers for the accuracy of the majority of scenes to date.
A scene where condoms were produced to protect the stump microphones was perfectly depicted.
But he did question the reasons the sight-screen at VFL Park fell over late in episode one.
“It blew over at lunch and we had to get about 30 people out of the crowd to pull it back up,” he said.
Mr Gray counted himself fortunate to never be on the end of Packer’s notorious temper and described him as a “fantastic” boss.
He recalled being singled out by Packer at the end of one day’s play in a Super Test between Australia and the Rest of the World at VFL Park.
He was the sight-screen operator and was constantly moving the screen as a right and left-handed batting combination faced the spin of Derek Underwood.
“He rewarded me with a carton of smokes and 1.5 litre bottle of scotch with the message ‘congratulations son, you’ve just quickened up the game of the cricket’,” he said.
“But he got a lot of his smokes back because he used to bott off me at The Australian golf course all the time.”