Tony Lewis, one of the men behind the Duckworth-Lewis method that is used to sort out rain-hit cricket matches, revealed recently that he often receives hate mail.
Stephen Fleming, the Chennai Super Kings coach, could be sending one too one of these days. The former New Zealand captain slammed the D/L method early on Tuesday morning after CSK's seven-wicket loss.
“There's a real anomaly in Duckworth-Lewis, it is rubbish for Twenty20,” said Fleming. “It shouldn't be around for T20… it killed the game today.”
Chennai was 65 for two after nine overs when rain stopped play. And when the game resumed after about one-and-a-half hours, it became a 17-over affair with the defending champion making 131. And under the D/L method, Kochi needed to score 135, which it achieved without much fuss.
“When you get no extra runs from Duckworth-Lewis, it's quite a big disadvantage,” said Fleming.
Meanwhile, despite the big victory, Kochi captain Mahela Jayawardene said the D/L needed a review.
“It has to be reviewed. Duckworth-Lewis is a method which they came up with for ODIs. To my limited knowledge, they do take an average score to make that formula. I think it is somewhere around 230 or 240. So, once you take an average score like that and apply that in Twenty20s, the whole thing is different,” said the former Sri Lankan captain.
“You start from a 50-over match and then you start with a 20-over match or 18-over game or 17-over game and you work backwards. So the average score is something that you really need to look at.”
The changes in the game mean that the D/L format needs a much closer look, suggested Jayawardene.
“Even in 50 overs, with the new Power Play, I think the average score needs to be looked at closely,” he said.
“If you take the last 50 games or 100 games that have been played with the Power Play, I think that average score should be higher.
“So, I think it's time for everyone to closely review that and see whether it's good enough to use in the Twenty20 as well as the 50 overs. It is not easy. But there is room for improvement in all areas.”
