Cricket: Indian engineer challenges D/L method

Improvement to rectify ‘flaws’ to be looked into by the ICC.

NEW DEHLI: An Indian engineer will learn today whether his challenge to the English system for determining the winner of rain-affected cricket matches – one of the most complicated rules in the sport – has been successful.

The current method, devised by English statisticians Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis and known as the Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) rule, was first introduced at the international level in 1996. It uses mathematical formulae to calculate the winning target for the batting team when rain reduces playing time in limited-overs matches and was first adopted after World Cup rules made a mockery of the 1992 semi-final between England and South Africa.

V Jayadevan, an engineer in southern Kerala, spent a decade working on his so-called VJD system, which has been used in Indian domestic matches since 2007 following a recommendation from batting legend Sunil Gavaskar. The International Cricket Council (ICC) will announce today if the VJD system will replace the Duckworth-Lewis method after discussions in London by the body’s cricket committee, headed by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd.

“I think there’s 90% hope if members read it patiently,” said Jayadevan. “I won’t be in the meeting because I was not invited, so I cannot immediately clear any doubts which a member may have. That is why I have taken away the remaining 10% chance. In my report to the ICC, I have pointed out the mathematical and statistical flaws in the D/L system and how that has been corrected in my method.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2012.