Excerpts...

The story goes what when the ball-tampering scandal broke, you were in a train with a bag which had a CA logo on it. You turned it around so no one could see it...

Was the public backlash that severe?

Before you were CEO, there was a review into CA's methodologies which revealed a 'win-at-all-cost' culture. Did that culture lead to 'SandpaperGate'?

Tell us about your meeting with Indian cricket board (

BCCI

) president Sourav Ganguly…

Did those talks dwell on a separate tournament featuring the 'Big 3' of India, Australia and England?

Won't such an event put you in direct conflict with ICC's own plans for more global tournaments?

If cricket has to expand globally, the impetus has to come from the 'Big 3' since they generate so much of the revenue. How do you reconcile that with your individual commercial aspirations?

(TOI PIC - Yogesh Mehta)

Broadcaster influence is increasing across global sport. Is there a line which administrators have to ensure is not crossed?

Does CA have a position on four-day Tests?

The Oz coach and captain have spoken out strongly against the concept. Will you take them into confidence?

Why not have four-day Pink Ball Tests and 5-day regular Tests?

There's a lot of negative talk around Tests in spite of huge attendances in the Ashes or Boxing Day Tests....

What about 'The Hundred', the opposite end of the spectrum?

A lot of good teams were kept out of the 50-over World Cup last year...

Would you like to see the T20 World Cup expanded?

There's a lot of concern about players' health, both the physical and the mental aspects, Glenn Maxwell being the latest...

Does cricket need a 'climate policy' of sorts? If it's bushfires in Sydney, it's the smog in Delhi...

Would you advise a specific set of cricket laws on environmental pollution?

Your plans for developing women's cricket....

You also have a gender pay equity model in place...

Technology has also played a big role in cricket's evolution...

What do you yourself prefer, live streaming or live TV?

The best you've played with and against?

Do administrators need to have played cricket?

Cricket Australia CEO Kevin Roberts is bracing up for "the biggest two years in the history of Australian cricket". There's the men's T20 World Cup later this year, for starters. "It's a lot of work for our organization and lots of work for the players, but we wouldn't change it for the world," he says.TOI met the former New South Wales cricketer turned business executive for an exclusive chat on everything cricket.Yes. Having loved the game since I could walk, and having had so many experiences in the game and formed so many friendships, it was the first time that I hadn't felt proud to be involved. Literally, it was an unconscious thing to turn the bag around and not to display the logo.It was significant. And it was magnified based on the landscape that we're living in, in terms of social media. So there was real outrage. But to the players' credit, and to our association's credit, the public have fallen in love with the men's team again. We've used that crisis to drive positive change.The cultural review gave us a good opportunity to look in the mirror. The term used at that time was "winning without counting the cost". It prompted us to drive a cultural change. Our goal is still to win, like every sporting team. But the expectation is to be humble, to compete with respect.I had a chance to catch up with him in Mumbai (during the first India-Australia ODI). In a short time, he has shown progressive thinking and a future focus. We had some very productive conversations.It's not something that we've discussed specifically but I think it's a really good example of the innovative thinking coming out of the BCCI under Sourav's leadership. We welcome consideration of any relevant innovation.The schedule is very full as it is. It is a matter of working beyond the current Future Tours Programme (FTP) which is set till 2023. The term of the next cycle appears likely to be till 2031. No doubt the ICC members will work through that in due course. It's important that all ICC members have a voice.The BCCI deserves credit in terms of how generous they are in terms of growing the sport internationally. Look at the touring schedules of every nation. India tours more than anyone. They play more days of cricket than anyone. They're actively developing the game. On our part, we're all conscious of the need to help. I travelled to Pakistan a couple of months ago to work on building a closer relationship. Following this visit to India I'm off to Bangladesh to watch the Bangladesh Premier League final and meet with their CEO.Broadcasters are a really important stakeholder, the commercial side. Fans are a critical stakeholder too. The players are the stars of show. We always look at those three areas, not just one of those perspectives. The fourth (factor) is the development of the game at the community level. That is a significant focus for us.Not at this point. We're going to ask ourselves the right questions and the hard questions, develop an informed perspective. Interestingly, there's been like 130-day three-day Tests, 120-odd four-day Tests and there's been 100 Timeless Tests. So Tests haven't always been five days. It's also interesting to see how many matches are finishing inside four days. The data is being considered. Personally, I love five-day Tests. But my role isn't to make decisions on what I love.Absolutely. We engage deeply with the players on all important issues. Our role will be to try and understand some of the sentiments around five-day Tests.I don't think it's a binary discussion of four or five days. There needs to be a balance of head and heart. If it was purely based on the numbers, it doesn't pay respect to the game's history. The concept does raise interesting possibilities like starting Tests on a Thursday, to give fans the maximum opportunity to watch on a Saturday and Sunday.We're so pleased to have had 200,000 people in total at the Boxing Day Test . And then over 100,000 people in the New Year's Test in Sydney. They are two examples of Tests thriving. The day-night Tests at the Adelaide Oval have been vibrant too, typically over a 100,000. We've got great respect for the history of Test cricket. It's the most premium and most special format. We will take responsibility for playing a role in ensuring it stays relevant.It'll be interesting to see how it plays out. No doubt it'll be quite similar to T20s but some of the nuances might bring about interesting tactics and approaches to the game.I think it's important that the T20 format stays the key driver of the game's development. The shorter the format, the closer is the contest between a developing nation and those which have been playing for a long time.We would. There's a great example in terms of FIFA World Cups over the last 30-40 years, how they've been able to use those as a great way of developing the game globally. We can do something similar with T20Is.Mental health and well-being is a growing issue in society. Cricket and cricketers are not immune. We've got to be vigilant and supportive of the players. Everyone needs a break, needs to refresh. We have to keep an eye on workloads when it comes to the next FTP. We've got a very strong view that international cricketers should not be playing any more cricket than they already are. We need to be caring. It's also important for players to have other interests, to pursue another aspect of life.We've developed a hot-weather policy ourselves. We're proud to become the first cricket nation to have done that. This year we are working on evolving our environmental sensibility more broadly.There's an ICC policy in place and guidelines around that. When the air quality is at a hazardous level, one of the challenges is to measure the air quality at the venue instead of the nearest measuring point which might be a few kilometres away.We are looking to set a world record for attendance at a women's sporting event on International Women's Day this year at the final of the T20 World Cup at the MCG. The earlier record is 91,000 at the Women's Fifa World Cup back in 1999. We're hopeful we can break that record.We're proud of that. We have the same base hourly rate of pay for all professional cricketers across the board. Then there's a premium that's payable based on three things: representing your country, fan engagement (the crowds you draw as a team) and your worth in a team. We put the model together with the help of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. They have parameters for measurement.It has been very interesting being here in Delhi with HCL, our official digital technology partner. We've had 750 million hits online in the past six months on our Cricket Australia live app. A majority of the hits are from outside Australia. We're enthusiastic about growing our digital engagement. Tech will also play a significant role in grassroots cricket to make the job of volunteers and coaches easier.Cricket is rapidly evolving here and overseas, and part of that evolution involves advancements in technology and the digital landscape. Cricket Australia is connecting with fans and participants through our digital platforms every minute of the day, through the stories and live match data on cricket.com.au right through to participants and community volunteers using our MyCricket platform. The usage of these platforms continues to grow significantly, so partnering with a leading global technology provider to harness this growth and help us take advantage of our leading position is a natural next step. HCL will help take our digital offerings to the next level and allow us to better connect with and inspire communities through cricket. As a leading provider of digital transformation for major professional sports organizations, it will manage and elevate CA's suite of digital products.We need to evolve with how people want to consume sport. I'm 47, most people of my era would prefer to watch it on the wall at home. But 15-24 year-olds are watching more videos on their mobiles than TV. One-size-fits-all is not the right approach. If cricket was only live-streamed, though, we'd be doing a disservice to older fans.The best I've played with is Steve Waugh , because of his intensely competitive spirit and drive. He was a strong leader as well. The best I've played against is Courtney Walsh . I think he took 1807 first-class wickets and I helped his career along, because without me he would only have 1806!Absolutely. Ideally, you need a background in cricket and a background in business. Administering sport is, partly, a business, and partly a community service. It can't all be about the numbers.