Media magnate Packer dies Feature: Cricket revolutionary

The controversial Packer transformed cricket by popularising the one-day game with innovations including floodlights and coloured clothing.

Former England skipper Tony Greig told BBC Radio Five Live: "The most important thing was night cricket - that got cricket to a wider audience.

"The second thing is cricketers are now paid what they should be paid."

The current Australia and South Africa teams paid tribute by observing a minute's silence before the start of day two of the second Test in Melbourne.

Shane Warne, the most successful bowler in Test history, spoke for the current generation of players by describing Packer as "a wonderful and very close friend of mine over 13 years".

He said: "We shared a lot of time together talking about his life, business, sharing funny stories and, in particular, cricket, which was his love. These memories will last with me forever.

"I will always remember you KP as a wonderful character, a close friend, and everyone involved in world cricket owes you so much."

He always watched cricket with a view to taking it forward ICC president Ehsan Mani

Packer launched his World Series in 1977 when the Australian Cricket Board rejected his lucrative offer to cover the game.

It ran for two years, featuring great players such as Greg and Ian Chappell, Dennis Lillee, Viv Richards, Michael Holding, Colin Croft and Imran Khan.

Croft said: "He was a very astute businessman and the last cricket visionary the game has seen. He was somebody who made sure he got every effort out of his players for his dollar."

The game's official governing bodies were quick to condemn and issue bans, but Packer was able to lure players with big-money contracts that offered wages far exceeding those paid by national boards.

Greig gave up the England captaincy to sign up and team-mates John Snow and Derek Underwood soon followed but England were not as badly affected as other Test-playing nations.

David Gower was not involved, but says he benefited anyway.

Without him, cricket would never be the way it is today... From Dave Have your say on TMS

"Packer only did this initially as a way of getting cricket on his television station in Australia - that was his prime motive when it started - but it grew out of that into something much more important," he explained.

"The influence on modern cricket has been absolutely enormous and modern cricket is in his debt because of it.

"Suddenly they had to start paying relatively decent wages: we saw the wages for a Test match go from �200 a game to a �1000 because they had to fight off this threat from the other side of the world."

The whole affair proved one of the great controversies in the game's history, but over time it came to be seen as a force for good and Packer is now largely regarded as a visionary.

"We first met during the formation of World Series Cricket. At the meeting I had with him, the thing that struck me most was that he was concerned only with the players," said TV commentator Richie Benaud, a former Australia captain.

"There was never anything mundane or orthodox about him."

Packer's World Series saw the introduction of coloured kit

Ehsan Mani, president of the International Cricket Council, said Packer had taken the game "by the scruff of the neck and dragged it into the modern era".

He continued: "Day-night cricket, white balls and black sightscreens, coloured clothing and cutting edge television coverage are all aspects of the game that modern cricket fans take for granted and all of them are down to one man - Kerry Packer.

"The players also owe him a huge debt of gratitude because he recognised their worth and paid them accordingly.

"He recognised they were the entertainers and had to be rewarded - he helped make cricket an attractive career option for youngsters and that was one of his great achievements."

Mani added: "On the occasions I met him, it was clear he possessed a great knowledge, understanding and love of the game.