Cricket law body fot use of lie detectors to fight corruption

The Marylebone Cricket Club is contemplating proposing to the International Cricket Council the use of lie detectors on players in order to clean the sport of corruption, especially spot and match-fixing.

The Marylebone Cricket Club is contemplating proposing to the International Cricket Council the use of lie detectors on players in order to clean the sport of corruption, especially spot and match-fixing.

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The MCC, the upholder of the laws of cricket, after a meeting in Perth, Australia, recommended further investigation into the use of the device before a recommendation was forwarded to the ICC.

This is linked to the the three Pakistani players who were suspended for being implicated in a spot-fixing scandal during the team's tour of England earlier this year.

"The (world cricket) committee is concerned at the scale of the problem and the detrimental effect it has placed on the integrity of the game," the MCC said on its website today.

"The committee feels more resources -- and increased powers -- are required to attempt to eradicate this issue from the game. The education of players should not be a meaningless formality; the message should be pressed home with regularity by figures known and respected by the players," it added.

"Furthermore, the committee believes that team captains, as enshrined in the Laws and Spirit of Cricket, should accept greater responsibility for the conduct of their players."

Leading the fight against corruption in cricket, Steve Waugh, head of the MCC World Cricket Committee's anti-corruption group, said that "the greatest issue facing the game right now is match-fixing".

The Waugh-led committee discussed the merits of not selecting tainted players, the inclusion of anti-corruption clauses in all professional playing contracts, and legalising and regulating the betting markets in India.

"How can we make players more accountable for their actions? Personally, I think if you've done nothing wrong, why wouldn't you want to have a lie-detector test? You can't make it compulsory but like I said, if you've got nothing to hide, why wouldn't you take it? If we sit back and don't do anything about corruption, it's going to get worse," the former Asutralia skipper said.

England captain Andre Strauss said he would have to weigh the pros and cons before making a commitment.

"We don't want the whiff of anything suspicious going on in the game," Strauss was quoted as saying by Press Association.

"If we have to take extreme measures in order to be 100 per cent confident the game is being played in the right spirit, then I'd certainly be happy to do that. I'd have to think about the arguments (for lie-detector tests) one side and another first.

But the principle, of having 22 guys on the pitch that the supporters are absolutely 100 per cent certain are playing the game for the right reasons, is a good thing," Strauss said.

The anti-corruption recommendations will be put to the MCC laws subcommittee for further consideration at their next meeting in February.