At the age of 84, Frank Duckworth, one of the creators of the Duckworth-Lewis (later Duckworth-Lewis-Stern) method for determining results in cricket matches affected by rain, passed away on Friday, June 21.
Developed by English statisticians Duckworth and Tony Lewis, the original method was used for the first time in international cricket in 1997. In 2001, the ICC officially adopted it as the standard for setting revised targets in truncated games. After Duckworth and Lewis retired in 2014 and Australian statistician Steven Stern made changes to the system, it was renamed the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.
“Co-inventor of the DLS technique Frank Duckworth passes away at the age of 84.”
In June 2010, Duckworth and Lewis received MBEs.
The DL method took the place of the rain rule, which was previously applied to determine targets in games that were stopped, most famously during the World Cup semifinal match between South Africa and England in Sydney in 1992.
Up until 2014, Duckworth worked for the ICC as a consultant statistician.
“Frank was a highly skilled statistician who enjoyed the respect of both his peers and the larger cricket community.” Wasim Khan, the ICC general manager of cricket operations, said in a press release that “the DLS method that he co-created has stood the test of time and we have continued to use it in international cricket more than two decades after its inception.” “Frank’s passing has left the cricket world a smaller place, despite his enormous contribution to the game. We offer his friends and family our condolences.
[Cricinfo]
