Waugh again calls for lie-detector tests

Melbourne: Former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh has reinforced his stand that players accused of match-fixing should volunteer themselves for lie-detector tests in order to clear their names.

Waugh said he was not fully aware of the proceedings in London, but reiterated that a polygraph or a lie-detection test could be a helpful aid in proving players` innocence. "I don`t know what`s happening in London, I`ve only heard various reports, but one of the benefits of a polygraph test is it provides a piece of the puzzle," Waugh was quoted as saying to the `Herald Sun`. The cricketer had earlier in July this year suggested that players could help drive out cheats from the sport by taking lie-detector tests and also volunteered for a two-hour polygraph examination to prove he`d never been involved in corruption in cricket. "I don`t think it provides all the answers but it does give players opportunities -- if they are wrongly accused --to clear their names via that means. It`s definitely a viable option. "They have a 98 per cent degree of accuracy and if you have nothing to hide it`s a good way to prove your innocence," he added. During the proceedings of the spot-fixing trial going on at the Southwark London court against Pakistani players, Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir and their London based agent Mazhar Majeed, the court has been told about how some other Pakistani players were also allegedly working for Majeed in the spot-fixing racket. In audio tapes played at the court, Majeed allegedly told undercover journalist Mazhar Mahmood that some Australian and Indian players were also involved in spot-fixing. PTI