Duckworth/Lewis advances to meet higher ODI totals

The International Cricket Council will introduce the Professional Edition of the Duckworth/Lewis method for all One Day Internationals starting with the match between Pakistan and South Africa in Lahore on 3 October 2003.

The D/L Professional Edition has been introduced to ensure fairness to both teams in matches where the side batting first sets an exceptionally high total.

Frank Duckworth, one of the inventors of the method explained that the new edition was designed to deal with matches like the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 final where Australia set India a target of 360 to win.

"We have always been aware that when the total set by the team batting first is much greater than average that revised targets and par scores can sometimes seem unrealistic," said Mr Duckworth.

"This issue was drawn to wider public attention during the ICC CWC final when India could have achieved a shock victory.

"With rain threatening, India, on 145 for 3 after 23 overs, were only four runs behind par. Losing no more wickets and scoring 12 runs in the next two overs followed by a terminal downpour would have handed the title to India," he added.

Although in this instance, the threat of abandonment never materialised, it helped prompt a move to the D/L Professional Edition.

"We have had the answer to this problem available for use for several years," explained co-inventor Tony Lewis.

"Using the Professional Edition of the D/L method, India would have been 20 runs behind par - a much fairer reflection of the state of the game.

"With this system a team aiming at a very high total has to score at much closer to the required rate for most of the chase. This means the tables have to be adjusted to suit the target," Mr Lewis added.

This adjustment cannot be undertaken manually and so the Professional Edition is entirely computerised, a change that has been endorsed by the ICC's General Manager - Cricket, David Richardson.

"The ICC believes that this change ensures that the system is now more accurate in setting targets in high scoring matches," said Mr Richardson.

"Teams and media will still receive sheets outlining the par score at the interval and after any subsequent rain delays and, where the facilities permit, scoreboards will also show the par score."

The D/L method of target resetting has been used for all ODI cricket since May 1999 and is widely recognised as a fair way of dealing with interrupted matches. The tables that are part of the D/L method are based on the average of scoring patterns over many matches.

The existing Standard Edition of D/L, which can be calculated manually, will still be available for domestic competitions and at grounds where computers are not available.

For further information or to arrange to speak to Frank Duckworth or Tony Lewis about the D/L Professional Edition please contact one of the following:

ICC media contacts: