Lewis had developed the original D-L method jointly with Frank Duckworth, which was adopted by the ICC in 1999.
DOHA (UAE): The International Cricket Council (ICC) has expressed its sadness at the death of mathematician Tony Lewis, who co-developed the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern system of calculating target scores in rain-affected limited-overs matches.
Lewis, who passed away at the age of 78, had developed the original Duckworth-Lewis method jointly with Frank Duckworth, which was adopted by the ICC in 1999.
The big difference between Duckworth-Lewis and previous methods was that it gave credit to sides defending a target for taking wickets as well as chasing sides for scoring runs.
After the retirements of Duckworth and Lewis, Steven Stern became the custodian of the method and his name was added to the system in 2014.
“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,” said Geoff Allardice, ICC General Manager (Cricket).
“His contribution to the game of cricket will be remembered for years to come and we send our condolences to his family and friends.”
Lewis, a graduate in mathematics and statistics from Sheffield University, retired as a lecturer of Quantitative Research Methods from Oxford Brookes University. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2010.
“Cricket is deeply indebted to both Tony and Frank’s contributions to the sport,” the ECB added. “We send our sincere condolences to Tony’s family.”
The formula came about in response to the extraordinary climax of a rain-interrupted 1992 World Cup semifinal in Sydney.
The method then in use was based on removing the lowest-scoring overs from each team’s innings.
However, the formula has been criticised for not being suited to Twenty20 matches, which came into being after Duckworth-Lewis was established.
No alternative method, however, has yet found favour with the ICC.
