Tony Greig hopes TV series Howzat! will set record straight

London, Aug 9 (ANI): Tony Greig, who was labelled a traitor, lost the captaincy of the English cricket team, and was jeered by fans for joining Kerry Packer, is hoping that a documentary named Howzat! will set the record straight.

Greig's decision to join the Kerry Packer camp for World Series Cricket in the 1970s made him the most vilified player of his time.

Greig is a major character in Howzat!, second only to Kerry Packer in the Channel 9 mini-series, The Telegraph reports.

It was Greig who helped recruit a raft of international greats for Packer's rebel series and was at the centre of the fierce legal battle with English cricket authorities after they tried to ban rebel players from Test and first-class cricket.

Greig is nervous about how he will be portrayed (by actor Alexander England) and hopes the makers "get it right".

The 65-year-old, currently in Sri Lanka, hasn't seen the mini-series.

Greig said: "People tend to think that I did it purely for money but it wasn't actually. It was a huge decision for me but it happened at the right time in my life. I was 31 years of age and in those days you needed to move on from cricket and get another career.

"I was able to extract from Kerry an undertaking for a job for a long time and that was what really swung it for me. It was a decision based on the future of my family."

Greig admitted things turned nasty. They were his darkest days. The UK media was merciless. The British public was filthy.

Howzat! starts on Channel 9 on August 19. (ANI)