English rain rule 'not out' after Indian challenge

The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced Friday it was sticking with the Duckworth/Lewis rule for deciding rain-affected matches after an Indian engineer put forward a replacement method.

Devised by English statisticians Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis, the Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) rule was first introduced at international level in 1996.

It uses mathematical formulas 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 semifinal between England and South Africa in Sydney.

V Jayadevan, an engineer in the south Indian state of Kerala, has spent a decade working on his so-called VJD system.

This has been used in Indian domestic matches since 2007 following a recommendation from batting great Sunil Gavaskar.

Jayadevan argued his system should be adopted internationally, because the D/L method often produced targets that were "not reasonable or sensible".

But the ICC's cricket committee, at a meeting in London this week, decided to stick with the present system.

A statement issued on behalf of the committee, chaired by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, said it had considered Jayadevan's method in great detail but added: "The committee unanimously agreed that there was no evidence of any significant flaws in the D/L method nor did the committee believe that any improvements could be offered by the VJD method.

"Therefore the committee decided to continue with the D/L as the preferred method of calculating target scores in reduced limited overs matches."

In the World Cup game that prompted the adoption of the D/L method, South Africa needed a gettable 22 runs off 13 balls before rain stopped play, but that became a ludicrous 21 off one ball when the match resumed.

The committee, which only makes recommendations to the ICC's main board, due to meet later this month, also called for the end of the bowling powerplay in one-day internationals.

Instead they said the standard 10-over fielding restrictions at the start of each innings should be retained, followed by one five-over powerplay, at the batting side's discretion, by the 40th over.

A maximum of four fielders outside the 30-yard ring during non-powerplay overs is also recommended, down from five at present.

Fast bowlers would be allowed to bowl two bouncers per over instead of one.

David Richardson, ICC general manager, said: "The committee was mindful of the need to avoid continual changes but was determined to complete the process initiated last year to enhance the format.

"It is now confident that these recommendations for ODI cricket, which showed its popularity during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, will help create an even more attractive spectacle as we approach the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 which will be held in Australia and New Zealand," the former South Africa wicket-keeper added.

The committee reiterated its view that, depending on the ability to finance the technology, the Decision Review System (DRS) should be implemented "universally" in Test and ODI cricket.

Indian cricket chiefs - in charge of the sport's wealthiest board - have yet to be convinced by the accuracy of the technology involved and that means the system is not used in matches involving India.
 

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