English statistician and one of the inventors of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method, Frank Duckworth died at the age of 84, according to a report. Duckworth passed away on June 21, according to a report in ESPNcricinfo.com. The Duckworth-Lewis method, devised by Duckworth and fellow statistician Tony Lewis, was introduced to determine results in rain-affected cricket matches.
The method was first used in international cricket in 1997 and was formally adopted by the ICC as the standard method for setting revised targets in truncated games in 2001.
We are so sad to hear of the passing of Frank Duckworth MBE, co-inventor of the Duckworth-Lewis method for cricket and a much loved RSS fellow.
Editor of RSS News for 20 years and recipient of our Chambers Medal, he will be greatly missed. https://t.co/DlDr15Aq12pic.twitter.com/U93Y9qjhSP— Royal Statistical Society (@RoyalStatSoc) June 25, 2024
The method was renamed the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method after the retirement of Duckworth and Lewis, followed by some modifications by Australian statistician Steven Stern.
Duckworth and Lewis were both awarded MBEs (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in June 2010.
The DLS method is based on a complex statistical analysis that considers many factors like wickets remaining and overs lost, among others, to set a revised target for the team batting second.