Steve Waugh Backs Lie Detectors to Stop Match Fixing, Spot Fixing Rumours

The former Australian captain is willing to back the controversial method in a bid to weed out the speculation over match fixing and its latest variant, spot fixing.

Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer

Steve Waugh is bringing an old theory back to the table. When the match fixing saga of 2000 first broke out, there was a debate over whether something like the lie detector could serve the purpose of sieving the truth from the abundance of rumours. After all, the match fixing scandal took most people involved with the sport by surprise, not just because of the people who were eventually named, but also, because of the kind of domino effect it had because it automatically put all past and future matches under the scanner of the public eye.

The spot fixing scandal that broke out at Lord’s during the England Pakistan Test did the game no favours because it once again brought to the fore the demon of match fixing, exposing that it was becoming harder to sift the malice prevalent within the sport, with the ICC unable to ascertain with certainty the degree to which it has permeated the sport. With three Pakistan cricketers deemed guilty by the ICC and been given bans beginning with a minimum of five years, there has been criticism coming the ICC’s way that they are not proving a deterrent enough to prevent such a situation arising in the future.

As part of the MCC Cricket Committee, Steve Waugh was speaking at Lord’s when he backed using the lie detector system to ensure that the players were telling the truth and also, as a way of putting the rumor mongering to rest. It is controversial in that it is not one hundred per cent accurate and also, because it would not be a permissible evidence in Great Britain. But Steve Waugh would not propose changes within the game unless he felt sure about it which basically translated into him testing the system out himself by subjecting himself voluntarily to the lie detector test.

Waugh now wants to make the lie detector test part of cricket’s way of cleansing the system of the rumours that have swirled around matches and players. He certainly believes it is a step in the right direction towards putting to rest some of the vicious rumours that have put every match under the scanner with speculation of possible match fixing. That the few incidents have marred the integrity with which the sport is followed is perhaps what is most disconcerting about the match fixing controversy. In that light, Waugh is proposing a method that could lead to controversy for several reasons.

Cricketers may not be as willing to come forth of their own free will to take the lie detector test and if some do decide to indulge, there will be several who will see it as grave injury to their ego and integrity to have to go through it as if they were criminal or accused of serious crime. Although match fixing has become a major stigma on the sport, it is hard to see the cricketers arriving at an agreement even if the MCC sees this as the only way to clear the sport and cleanse it of damaging aspersion.