‘Corruption is the single biggest threat to cricket’

London: Mike Brearley, who needs no introduction, spoke to The Telegraph at Lord’s on Saturday afternoon. The first part of the interview, which dealt with captaincy, was published on Sunday. Here goes the concluding portion...

Q What’s the biggest threat facing cricket?

A Corruption... The sport’s integrity has to remain intact and, clearly, the values of cricket can’t be compromised.

Do you endorse Steve Waugh’s suggestion that players should voluntarily undergo lie detector tests?

Come October 1 and I’ll be taking over as chairman of the MCC’s World Cricket Committee (from Tony Lewis) and I have to take this process on... I don’t know how it’s going to turn out... Therefore, at this stage, I can’t be frank with you... However, I entirely admire the initiative and the motivation with which Steve took it on. As I’ve said, corruption is the single biggest threat to cricket.

What, then, should be the message?

It has to be hammered home to the players and, possibly, the administrators as well that the slightest misdemeanour would make it very difficult for them to get out of it. The mafia won’t only offer flattery, to begin with, but threats at a later stage... The way I see it, if people lose trust, doubt the honesty, question the integrity of players and results, then cricket is doomed... I wouldn’t like situations where a collapse against Bangladesh or Ireland is viewed with suspicion... Or, the loss of four wickets quickly... That could, after all, happen for perfectly acceptable cricketing reasons. My worry is that if the people start losing confidence, then they’ll also lose interest in this fascinating sport... People still come and say ‘oh, that match was fixed’... But I have no idea... Have no clue whether certain players were actually involved... We do know that some South Africans were involved, but what about those from some of the other countries?

Do players need to be educated better?

You do need mentoring and any inappropriate approach has to be reported to the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit.

But that Unit hasn’t nabbed anybody. The three Pakistanis, for example, were caught after a sting operation conducted by the News of the World...

I know... In fact, I’d like to know more about the Unit... They can’t be like a police force, though... I hated the method used by the News of the World, but at the end of the day, something good came out of that exercise.

What was your reaction when the spot-fixing story broke?

I was absolutely horrified. Everything then comes into question in the match or matches we’re talking about.

Moving away a bit... We’re watching the 2,000th Test. Today, do you see a further 2,000 matches being played?

Those who really know the game, agree that Test cricket is the pinnacle... The MCC’s World Cricket Committee is all for enhancing it and, so, we’re in favour of a Test Championship, in favour of day-night Tests and in favour of using pink balls. You don’t need day-night Tests in areas where the crowds are good, but in places where the interest isn’t that high.

Is T20 a threat to Test cricket?

Not T20 by itself, but only if there’s too much of it. Domestic leagues shouldn’t become more important than international cricket... Playing for Manchester United shouldn’t be more important than playing for England. I wouldn’t be happy with that.

If you had to pick a team, how much weightage would you give to talent?

Look, you can’t generalise... The thing is that you can’t increase talent, but you can increase the way talent is used... Look at the way Kevin Pietersen batted in the first innings... His first 50 runs were scratchy, but the next 150 were outstanding.

Do cricketers come to meet you when you’re wearing the psychoanalyst’s hat?

Some, yes.

Lastly, then, what do you tell them?

(Laughs) I listen to them, for invariably, they come when their confidence is down... It’s just a question of saying the right things.