Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) turns into Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (D/L/S) method

Steve Stern (Picture courtesy - Mark Cranitch/Courier Mail)

The controversial Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) method, which is used in cricket matches affected by rain, will be now known as the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (D/L/S) method after undergoing a revision in October last year. The third part of the name stands for Steve Stern, an American who helped revise the system despite not having followed cricket earlier on in his life.

New system to be used in World Cup

Speaking about how he got involved, Stern said: “I have always been a sports nut and I had some friends explain the rules of cricket to me. They said that seeing I was a mathematician, I should explain the Duckworth-Lewis system to them.

“It started out with those sort of discussions and then I got in touch with Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis. One thing led to another and now I am the official custodian of the DLS method.”

The updated method will be put to use at the 2015 World Cup, starting on Saturday.

Indian statistician hopeful of his method getting approval soon

V Jayadevan, who devised his own method (VJD method) of determining results in matches affected by inclement weather, said that the method comes under review once every two years, but because it was reviewed last year, it won't undergo another change this year. He further stated that the new method has proved to be useful in T20 games, but hasn’t been as effective in 50-over matches.

"Generally, the method is being reviewed every two years and it was already reviewed last year and therefore was not due this year,” Jayadevan said.

"The new D/L/S version has improved for Twenty20 games, however, it has gone worse for the other limited over format (ODI) matches.”

Jayadevan, though hasn't yet given up hopes of his method being used in international games and is keen on meeting the current chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) N Srinivasan to explain how his method is better than D/L/S.

"I am keen to meet Srinivasan one day and will explain him how my method is better than D/L/S," he said.