Steve Waugh advocates the use of lie detectors to root out corruption

Steve Waugh

Former Australian captain Steve Waugh has advocated the use of lie detectors to root out corruption in cricket, especially in the wake of the present IPL spot-fixing scandal.

“It’s unfortunate when things like these happen. There is a need to educate the umpires. And also, there is a need to put in place the lie-detector test,” said Waugh, according to reports from Zee News.

The use of lie detectors has been a long standing call of Waugh who believes that players who were accused or suspected should be put through the test so as to be able to clear their names.

Meanwhile, Waugh chose not to be too critical of the present Australian side playing in the Ashes, and felt that it was only self belief that was lacking in the team. “It’s very difficult. But I feel we have the talent and we just need to start believing in ourselves,” said Waugh

There have been many voices that have called the present Australian batting unit as the worst to have represented Australia in as Ashes series, but again Waugh had a different viewpoint.

“I don’t think so (current Australia are the worst batting side ever in Ashes). I was the part of the worst batting side ever in 1989 but we won the Test series 4-0. There is a lot of talent here and in the ongoing Test (third Test) we got some 500-plus runs in the first innings, so that doesn’t make the team’s batting worst,” he said.

Waugh also came out in support of Steve Smith and labelled him as a “talent for the future.” He also believed in the ability of Shane Watson and said that it was just a matter of staying patient, because once he gets a hundred there will be plenty of runs to follow.

Waugh was recently in Bangalore where he commented upon Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement and Sourav Ganguly’s toss delaying tactics.