Remembering Tony Lewis and the Story of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Method

The present day system of resetting targets in international cricket is based on the one developed by Tony Lewis and Frank Duckworth more than two decades ago.

Tony Lewis, a one-third stakeholder in the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, has passed away at the age of 78, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced on Wednesday. Lewis was not only one of the men responsible for the system, but was also a renowned cricketer, mathematician and a university professor. During his lifetime, he played a lot of key roles, starting from leading England in his debut Test against India in 1972 and then leading the team for 5 test matches till 1973 to presenting Cricket with the method that could help decide a winner when the game is washed over by rain and the day is about to end.

Remembering Tony’s contribution towards the world of cricket, Geoff Allardice, ICC's General Manager, said "Tony's contribution to cricket is huge. The present day system of resetting targets in international cricket is based on the one developed by him and Frank more than two decades ago. "His contribution to the game of cricket will be remembered for years to come and we send our condolences to his family and friends."

"'It is with much sadness that the ECB has learned of the passing of Tony Lewis MBE, aged 78," read a statement from the board. "Cricket is deeply indebted to both Tony and Frank's contributions to the sport. We send our sincere condolences to Tony's family.''

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It was in 1992, when the method that presented Lewis with the ultimate glory of his career- the Duckworth-Lewis method was first implemented. For the ones who don’t know: South Africa were to chase a target of 253 in the stipulated 45 overs; it rained when the match reached 231 for 6 after 42.5 overs; two overs were deducted after the interval; once the game resumed, South Africa’s target remained unchanged for them— but with 12 fewer balls. They were just left with a single ball to achieve a target of 22 runs.

After the whole incident, an appeal was sent out to the cricket-loving world, initially via Christopher Martin-Jenkins on Test Match Special - asking can anyone, anywhere, devise a better solution? This is where Duckworth came in and unveiled his prototype rain-rule in the 1980s but the method was overruled due to the complexity of the method.

However in 1992, "Fair Play in Foul Weather" caught the attention of Lewis, who was by then working as a lecturer in management science at the University of the West of England.

The method, as we know today was tweaked in 2014 by Steven Stern, an Australian professor and the world was presented with what is now known as the "DLS" method. Stern had taken over the day-to-day running of the formula, and made a lot of adjustments to keep in check with the modern scoring rates.

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It was not just then, but in the current cricketing world also, there are crucial occasions when rain eats away the day’s play. During the Women’s World Cup, the match between Australia and South Africa, was expected to get abandoned due to the weather – a result that would have put South Africa through to the Women's World Cup final – the torrential rain cleared just in time for the game to get resumed. With the number of overs shrunk, the result, which could have been in favour of the South African side, slid away to Australian side, who won the match by 5 runs.

Rain has been interrupting play since the beginning of time but remembering a man who loved the game so much that he devised a way to overcome the loss of playing hours is a rare sight to see.