Richardson played 42 Tests for South Africa

Q. There is a culture of change within the ICC, with a drive to be more transparent and decisive in its dealings, but for many years it was regarded by observers as toothless and dithering in times of crisis. Did players feel the same way?

A. Yes, definitely. The ICC was seen as collection of member countries, with each of those countries adding their own opinion to discussions without ever pulling together.

When you look at the diversity of cultures within the game it is not surprising that negotiations often falter. It is difficult challenge - but not impossible.

Q. What did players most often want changed when they asked you to represent them?

A. Usually they felt they weren't being paid enough.

But I realised pretty quickly that, however important money is, the things that they worried about were mostly of no real consequence to the game at large.

After pay came travel, hotels, playing conditions, itineraries. Generally, they could not see the bigger picture, the worldwide image of the game and the importance of its future health.

Q. And how do you establish that health?

The one-day calendar is packed

A. One of the big areas of reform needs to be in the cutting down of meaningless cricket, in both Tests and one-day internationals.

The World Test Championship is a step in the right direction, but it might need tinkering.

It is probably too early to say how because it has not been running for long and, to be honest, I can't claim to understand it fully yet.

One-day cricket is more of a concern and perhaps the answer is to implement a World Championship here too.

There would obviously need to be a structure that all countries would adhere to, but the commercial benefits of staging one-day tournaments are such that member countries are unlikely to agree.

Perhaps the solution is to have an organised structure of one-day internationals, and then to allow some matches to be played outside that championship.

Then again, that would go against the wish to cut down on excessive one-day matches.

It's a tough one.

Q. Much has been made of you bringing your legal skills to the job. What are those skills?

A. Before South Africa were reintroduced into international cricket, I worked regularly as a lawyer for something like 14 years.

As a junior it was general law, as you would imagine, but as I grew more experienced and specialised I moved into commercial and contract law.

I was living in Port Elizabeth at the time, which is one of the car manufacturing centres of South Africa, so it seemed a logical move.

It was only when I was close to retiring from international cricket that the idea occurred to me that I could use my knowledge in cricket.

Cronje let down his country and his teammates

Q. It seems incredible that despite those legal skills, and being a senior member of the South African side, you had no inkling of what Hansie Cronje was up to. Is that a fair observation?

A. People rightly ask themselves how it is possible that Hansie was doing these things without his team-mates having the faintest idea.

I was part of the side when a bribe was turned down at a team meeting in 1996, and that was the only time that it showed its head.

You only have to look at Jonty Rhodes, who was Hansie's closest friend. As the revelations slowly came out, Jonty was more and more surprised and saddened each time.

If he didn't know, then how could the rest of us?