Cricket's Waugh takes lie-detector test against graft

Former Australia captain Steve Waugh has taken a lie-detector test as part of his bid to help root corruption out of cricket. Waugh believes making players submit to examination by lie-detectors, or polygraphs as they are also known, could help drive cheats from the game. As a member of the world cricket committee of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which owns Lord's, Waugh volunteered to undergo a test to confirm he had never been involved in corruption in cricket. MCC arranged for him to be tested by Steven van Aperen who, it said in a statement issued on Tuesday, was one of "Australia's leading polygraph examiners". The MCC statement added: "Steve Waugh passed this test convincingly." Australia great Waugh was spurred into action following last year's revelations by Britain's now defunct News of the World tabloid that former Pakistan captain Salman Butt, and bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif, were all involved in the deliberate bowling of no-balls during a Test against England at Lord's as part of a betting scam. The Pakistan trio were suspended for a minimum of five years' each by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport's global governing body, and are now awaiting a criminal trial in England due to start in October. Polygraph tests cannot be used as evidence in an English criminal court and the MCC statement added: "The (world cricket) committee accepts that the use of polygraph tests is a sensitive subject but their potential use should now be widely debated in the game. "The Working Party hopes to meet, in the near future, with the ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), to present MCC's thorough analysis of polygraph testing." ACSU officials have found themselves on the defensive over accusations they have not done enough to rid cricket of corruption. Soon after the News of the World published its allegations, ACSU chief Ronnie Flanagan, the former head of the police force in Northern Ireland, said they did not have the resources or mandate to mount such 'sting' operations. But the MCC world cricket committee said: "Players must feel that there is a genuine risk of being caught. "And so the ICC ACSU should aim to increase their investigative powers by whatever means, including the use of 'sting' operations." The MCC world cricket committee's members include such present and former players as India's Rahul Dravid, England coach Andy Flower, Pakistan's Majid Khan, New Zealand's Martin Crowe, South Africa's Barry Richards and West Indies' Courtney Walsh. Although it is more than 40 years since the MCC ceased to run English cricket, it retains worldwide responsibility for the sport's rules or Laws.