Steve Waugh wants lie detector tests in cricket

FORMER Australia captain Steve Waugh has called for lie detector tests to be introduced in a bid to combat match-fixing in cricket.

Waugh, speaking in his capacity as a member of the MCC's World Cricket Committee, revealed he had undergone a polygraph examination and called on current internationals to follow his lead. Waugh suggested the systems, which are said to be between 96-98 per cent reliable based on current research but remain inadmissible in English criminal courts, could be used to clear people who have been wrongly accused of fixing and to reassure fans they are seeing authentic, competitive cricket.

Waugh presented his findings to the committee yesterday and has been persuaded the technology could be of use in the international game. "As a former captain I know you never ask a player to do something you are not willing to do yourself," he said. "So on April 7 I went to Melbourne and went through the process of a polygraph test.

"At the end of the process, which took about two hours, I was convinced that anybody with something to hide would be found out by this process. There are a lot of rumours about match-fixing and spot-fixing and I don't like that. So this is about giving the public some confidence that the game is being played in the right way. For players who have been wrongly accused I can give them confidence that it is a fair process and you'll get the correct answer."

Waugh, who said the committee's recommendations only went as far as introducing polygraph tests as a voluntary rather than mandatory tool, also called on the younger generation to set the ball rolling. "We're looking for ambassadors or advocates to put up a hand and say they would undergo a polygraph to be a role model for their team."