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 31st, 2012.
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 31st, 2012.