EXCLUSIVE

Adelaide: John Michael Brearley, an iconic captain in his time who is now chairman of the MCC's cricket committee, spoke to The Telegraph late on Saturday.

Excerpts...

Q It has been a surprise seeing you here, for you're usually in India at this time of the year...

A ( Smiles) I've taken a shortcut! Actually, I leave for India on Sunday... We had the MCC's world cricket committee meeting, to coincide with the first D/N Test, so I had to be present in Adelaide. I'm glad I came.

Because you've enjoyed the experience?

Absolutely. We, in the MCC, had been pushing for the pink ball and I'm glad that Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket agreed to play under the lights... Sadly, nobody from the subcontinent (on the world cricket committee) could come, all for different reasons... Ramiz Raja was doing commentary in the UAE, Sourav Ganguly had personal reasons and Kumar Sangakkara couldn't get away from the BPL.

But could D/N Tests actually become a regular feature across all Test-playing nations?

Not in England, because of the cold and because there are good crowds at Test matches, but it should be attempted in other countries. Perhaps, in some of the centres in India, those not in the North and in the East... I accept that it wouldn't be possible in, say, Lahore... However, Karachi would be an option at some stage... Look, unless you try, how will anybody get to know the pluses and minuses? I'm not saying this D/N concept is the answer to everything, but it's definitely a way forward.

Dew would be an issue...

I'm aware that dew could be a problem, but how bad or how impossible, I don't know. As I've just said, you need to try. In domestic matches first, if so required.

You watched the first two days... Your thoughts?

Positive... The pink ball can be seen, so spotting it isn't an issue... The nature of the pink ball doesn't change much under the lights... It swings more, yes, but nothing extravagant... The drop-in wicket has been excellent, as there's carry and something in it for quicks and spinners.

Weren't the players a bit apprehensive on the first day?

They were a little nervous, I guess. But that would only be natural, for they've become the guinea pigs. When you take a step into the unknown, you're bound to be tentative... The outfield wasn't very fast and the bowling was good.

Have you had a feel of the pink ball?

I have... The first time I saw the pink ball in play was during a match in Abu Dhabi. I know that Kookaburra experimented with different colours before settling on dark green for the seam... Plenty of research has been involved and the MCC provided for some of the funding.

Moving away from the pink ball... How much of your epic The Art of Captaincy have you recently updated?

Haven't updated the text at all. I've written a fresh foreward and there's a new introduction by Ed Smith. The suggestion came from the publishers.

So, despite there being a new format (T20), the demands on captaincy haven't changed?

The structure around captains has changed since the 1980s, when I wrote the Art, but captaincy hasn't changed by itself. Sure, there's so much technology nowadays, but that's it.

In simple terms, what must a captain do?

Ensure that his team gets one run more than the opposition. In Test cricket, in particular, captains have to find ways of doing that... Because there are long periods in the five-day game, there are lots of ways of getting things wrong and only a few of getting things right.

Who would you pick as good captains?

Off the cuff... Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss in the days gone by... Graeme Smith was a very rugged captain. He started at the age of 22 and remained the captain for 11 years, quite unbelievable that... Misbah-ul Haq seems to have done a good job. He's got his team to get the results, even though Pakistan haven't played a Test at home for almost seven years... (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni has been good in the limited overs game. He wasn't so in Test cricket.

Have you seen Virat Kohli captaining?

Not really, so I can't comment.

Your views on Eoin Morgan, England's captain in the shorter formats...

I like Morgan... He's enterprising and has an attitude which isn't unlike that of Brendon McCullum. He's willing to try things and is himself a very good limited overs cricketer. Of course, he's not quite there at the Test level, but could get there as well.

You've consistently picked the possibility of corruption as the biggest threat to cricket. The ongoing Chris Cairns trial in London has only brought out more revelations...

Yes, but the Cairns incidents happened years ago, in the last decade... My views haven't changed. We just have to be more vigilant.

But can fixing ever be eliminated?

Can you root out crime? You can't... It's the same for other things... Players are human and human beings are bound to make mistakes. We all live in society and included in it are people who're corrupt. Crooks are clever people, who may even resort to extreme measures... Some of those who entice are ruthless... Why do businessmen indulge in fraud? Well, they're also part of society and humans are known to have failings.

It's not a very encouraging scenario...

The International Cricket Council and the Boards just have to be more vigilant. There's no other way. From what I understand, the Boards are putting in more resources and have set up anti-corruption units. Clearly, whatever information is there, has to be shared.

In your professional capacity as a psychoanalyst, have you dealt with a cricketer who had something to do with bookies?

No.

What if somebody had come to you?

I'd first listen to what he had to say.

Did you follow the India-South Africa Test series closely?

Not closely... The three-day finishes, though, aren't desirable. It looked as if the pitches were fixed... That's second-rate (stuff)... I have nothing against home advantage, that's perfectly okay. Home advantage is fine, but if pitches are fixed, then it's disgraceful. Mumbai, for example, should produce the best pitch it can naturally. Let the finished product be reflective of the soil Mumbai has, don't manipulate it. Everybody knows that the ball will turn in India, but from the first over? No. That is not right.

But the interpretation of home advantage may differ...

Home advantage is always there, don't exaggerate it. That's my point... I have nothing against spinners opening the bowling, but only as an experiment or in the second innings. If it's from the first innings, then there's a bad smell about it. That's my humble submission.

[The reference was to Ravichandran Ashwin, who had the new ball at his disposal in each innings of the two Tests that South Africa lost within three days.]

Aren't groundsmen under pressure to deliver a certain type of pitch?

Look, I don't like the fact that, in England, pressure comes on the groundsman to change the pitch to suit England's attack... I don't think it's done in Australia, or done often enough.

Finally... Would you be in favour of four-day Test matches?

I'm not rejecting the concept, let's just say I'm not in favour as yet. But it could be something to look at. I'd first like to study the statistics and, then, form an opinion... The issue is about the number of overs to be bowled in a day. Currently, we're struggling with 90 in a five-day Test.