''Howzat! Kerry Packer's War'' is an Australian drama-miniseries set in the 1970s that premiered on the Nine Network on Sunday 19 August 2012.

Plot

The Ashes is the pinnacle of world cricket with two old enemies, Australia and England, going head to head. This series is the story of

World Series Cricket 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 establish ...

and its creator, Australian media mogul Kerry Packer, who signed up the world's greatest players and set up a parallel cricket competition. The Australian cricket team, visiting England in 1977 for the Ashes series, fields a team full of legends. Cricket is undergoing a revolution and the cricket establishment will be brought to its knees.

Cast

Richard Davies, Lachy Hulme, Alexander England and Damon Gameau 2012

Lachy Hulme Lachy Hulme (born 1 April 1971) is an Australian actor and screenwriter. He has written several films and has appeared in a number of successful Australian and US film and television productions. Early life Hulme was born in Melbourne, Victo ...

as media mogul Kerry Packer * Travis McMahon as comedian Paul Hogan *

Abe Forsythe Abraham Forsythe (born 26 July 1981) is an Australian film and television actor, director, writer and producer. He is the son of actor and comedian Drew Forsythe. Career He first appeared on the TV series '' The Miraculous Mellops''. He has sinc ...

as comedian John Cornell (known also as 'strop'). * Cariba Heine as an actress (and wife of John Cornell) Delvene Delaney. * Peter Houghton as former Australian cricket captain (and also an adviser to Kerry Packer),

Richie Benaud Richard Benaud (; 6 October 1930 – 10 April 2015) was an Australian cricketer who, after his retirement from international cricket in 1964, became a highly regarded commentator on the game. Benaud was a Test cricket all-rounder, blending l ...

. * Clayton Watson as Australia XI captain

Ian Chappell Ian Michael Chappell (born 26 September 1943) is a former cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. He captained Australia between 1971 and 1975 before taking a central role in the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation. Born ...

Damon Gameau Damon Gameau is an Australian actor, director, and producer, known for his documentaries ''That Sugar Film'' and ''2040''. Gameau has also appeared in a number of award-winning TV shows and films, such as ''Love My Way'', '' The Tracker'' and ...

as Australia XI batsman

Greg Chappell Gregory Stephen Chappell (born 7 August 1948) is a former cricketer who represented Australia at international level in both Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODI). The second of three brothers to play Test cricket, Chappell was the pre-eminen ...

. * Matthew Le Nevez as Australia XI fast bowler

Dennis Lillee Dennis Keith Lillee, (born 18 July 1949) is Australian retired cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation".

. * Ryan O'Kane as Australia XIfast bowler

Jeff Thomson Jeffrey Robert Thomson (born 16 August 1950) is a former Australian cricketer. Known as "Thommo", he is one of the fastest bowlers in the history of cricket; he bowled a delivery with a speed of 160.6 km/h against the West Indies in Perth ...

. *

Brendan Cowell Brendan Cowell is an Australian actor, playwright, and director. Early life and education Cowell was born in Sydney and grew up in the beachside suburb of Cronulla. He credits his mother and high school drama teacher with encouraging him to ...

as Australia XI wicket-keeper

Rod Marsh Rodney William Marsh (4 November 1947 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian professional cricketer who played as a wicketkeeper for the Australian national team. Marsh had a Test career spanning from the 1970–71 to the 1983–84 Australian ...

. * Richard Davies as Australia XI Batsman

David Hookes David William Hookes (3 May 1955 – 19 January 2004) grew up in Torrensville and was a South Australian and Australian cricketer, broadcaster and coach of the Victorian cricket team. An aggressive left-handed batsman, Hookes usually batted in ...

. * Nicholas Coghlan as journalist Austin Robertson Jr. *

Alexander England Alexander England is an Australian actor. He comes from Albury in New South Wales, where he attended Scots School Albury. England starred opposite Lupita Nyong'o and Josh Gad in the 2019 zombie comedy horror film '' Little Monsters''. Career ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and Rest Of The World XI captain Tony Greig. * Andrew Carbone as Australia XI fast bowler

Max Walker Maxwell Henry Norman Walker (12 September 1948 – 28 September 2016) was an Australian sportsman who played both cricket and Australian rules football at high levels. After six years of balancing first-class cricket in summer, professional ...

. * Russell Newman as Harry Chester. * Tony Briggs as West Indies XI captain

Clive Lloyd Sir Clive Hubert Lloyd (born 31 August 1944) is a Guyanese-British former cricketer who played for the West Indies cricket team. As a boy he went to Chatham High School in Georgetown. At the age of 14 he was captain of his school cricket team ...

. * Daniel Worrall as Australia XI bowler Mick Malone. * Craig Hall as Gavin Warner (fictional character) * Mandy McElhinney as Kerry Packer's personal assistant, Rose (fictional character)

Ratings

Accolades

Book

''Howzat! Kerry Packer's War'', is also a book by Christopher Lee, who wrote the screenplay of the TV series. It was first published in 2012 by New South Publishing, an imprint of

The University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Nine Network original programming 2010s Australian television miniseries Television series by Endemol Australia Television series by Endemol Fiction set in the 1970s Cricket on television 2012 Australian television series debuts 2012 Australian television series endings