Just a few hours after Kerry Packer died in his sleep, the cricket world paused on Tuesday to pay tribute to the media magnate's role in changing the face of the global game.
The Australian and South African teams observed a minute's silence before the resumption of play in their Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground while former players, administrators and politicians paid their respects.
Cricket Australia's current chairman, Creagh O'Connor, said Packer's influence on Australian cricket could be rivalled only by Donald Bradman, the sport's greatest batsman.
"The so-called 'Packer revolution' in the 1970s has left a lasting legacy in the way the game is played," O'Connor said in a statement.
"One-day international cricket is now an international phenomena as a result of Kerry Packer."
Packer, who was 68, revolutionised the sport when he established World Series Cricket in the late 1970s and the game has never been the same since.
Annoyed that his attempts to buy the exclusive television rights to broadcast Test cricket in Australia were turned down, Packer decided to take on the establishment.
He poached some of the best international players to form his own competition comprised of three teams from Australia, West Indies and the Rest of the World.
His initial "supertests" failed to capture the imagination of the public, despite the high standard of cricket, but his pioneering promotion of one-day cricket was an instant success.
Australia's richest man had six floodlight towers built around the Sydney Cricket Ground so matches could be played at night.
A white ball, black sight-screens and coloured clothing were introduced. The establishment scoffed at Packer's ideas, but the crowds loved it and voted with their feet.
The first day-night match was staged at the SCG on November 28, 1978. World Series Cricket officials had hoped for 20,000 spectators but around 50,000 poured in to the famous old ground to celebrate an Australian win.
PLAYERS RETURNED
Packer knew he was on to a winner and by the time he reached a truce in the following year with the game's authorities, so did the players and public.
The players returned to the establishment as highly-paid professionals, while Packer got the television rights he wanted and millions of people who had never been interested in cricket were suddenly transfixed by the game.
"His actions in relation to World Series Cricket have transformed that game, initially very controversially, initially heavily criticised," Australian Prime Minister John Howard told reporters.
"But in the fullness of time, the advent of one-day cricket has not only won millions of additional adherence to the game but also transformed the traditional test match game itself."
One-day cricket had already begun to take root before the introduction of World Series Cricket but Packer's involvement undoubtedly accelerated the process.
Limited-overs cricket is now the most popular version of the game and night matches are common in most of the major playing nations.
Players are highly paid and broadcasters now have a big influence over scheduling and how the game is run.
In Australia each summer, the traditional test series is followed by a triangular international one-day tournament that attracts huge crowds and television audiences.
PUT RIGHT
Former Australia Test captain Richie Benaud, who works as a commentator for Packer's Australian television network, said cricket was much better off for the mogul's involvement.
"Cricket has changed for the better ... it's because of what happened then, cricket is so strong now," Benaud said.
"The thing that struck me the most was his concern for only the players. He was concerned the players had been downtrodden and it was his job to put it right. And put it right he did."
Former England captain Tony Greig, who signed to play for the Rest of the World team in World Series Cricket and now works as commentator, told Australian radio that cricket had lost a friend.
"Cricketers the world over I don't think will ever know how different things could have been without Kerry Packer," he said.