RSSeNEWS to be determined...

Now then, there is a catch, this particular Duckworth and Lewis are not the OR pioneers Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis we have all grown fond of, but some new kids on the block!  To celebrate the launch of their spiffing new cricket-themed album, The Duckworth Lewis Method - Duckworth and Lewis Method aka Thomas Walsh of Irish harmony-popsters Pugwash, and Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy, respectively - have picked the perfect spot to play themselves in, up in the England Suite of the Oval.

Unfortunately, they've also picked the most imperfect time, not just a launch of the album during Ashes week, but a launch which takes place during the height of the English summer, a time replete with torrential downpours. Indeed the weather we have experienced in this sceptred isle of late has been less than perfect for cricket, having laid waste to both the London transport system and the Oval pitch, large swathes of which have been hidden under tarpaulins glistening like a lake.

Performing under the name Duckworth Lewis Method, after the complex mathematical technique used to set a target for rain-interrupted matches, the pair have penned a tribute to the ancient game. "There's a complete absence of cricket songs," Hannon said. "Because of its long and varied history it lends itself to good writing. There are so many subtleties to it."

With the Duckworth Lewis Method album, Hannon and Walsh are bidding to join a limited group of cricket-themed songs. There's ‘When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease' by Roy Harper, ‘Cricket' by Ray Davies, ‘N-N-Nineteen Not Out' by The Commentators (alias Rory Bremner) and 10CC's hit ‘Dreadlock Holiday' of course which features the line, "I don't like cricket, I love it", and Lord Beginner's 1950 calypso hit ‘Victory Test Match,' written after the West Indies first Test win on English soil.

Hannon also said. "Half the reason we made this album about cricket is that it represents something that goes against the incredible pace of modern existence," he added. "You can just sit and exist, it's like meditation. Bandmate Walsh added. "We're living in a Twittery world where everything is ridiculously instant and pared down to the minutest degree; Cricket is the complete opposite of that."

The duo, who picked their name as it sounded like "a psychedelic band name of the highest order," have received glowing endorsements from ex-players Michael Atherton and leading cricket commentator Christopher Martin-Jenkins. Most importantly Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis, the statisticians who conceived the mathematical theory, have voiced their approval. "They sent us a lovely mail saying: ‘We're very honoured you took the name, we think the album's great and wish you every success."

One player yet to respond is former England captain Mike Gatting, who is the subject of the track "Jiggery Pokery" which deals with the batsman's ignominious dismissal by then unknown leg-spinner Shane Warne.

The band play their album in running-order, a swift coin toss heralding "The Age of Revolution", their analysis of the sweeping changes being wrought in cricket is telling indeed. "Always denied entry by the English gentry," sings Lewis, "now we're driving Bentleys, playing 20/20"

'Mason on the Boundary' is another classic track, depicting as it does a daydreaming outfielder. While a pop offering "Meeting Mr Miandad" is reminiscent of the Beatles/ELO sound. 'Flatten the Hay' is a sunny summery pop ditty, portraying those summer holidays when every day "would bring a new crease to discover". Then there is "Test Match Special" and "The End of the Over" and even a romp through TV cricket theme "Soul Limbo" that leaves appetites whetted for the next day's first ball.

The Duckworth Lewis Method album was released on July 6th 2009, you can listen to extracts of it on: http://www.myspace.com/dlmethod this web address also provides other pertinent yet entertaining links which may serve to amuse during one's lunch hour.

The Operational Research Duckworth and Lewis Method is a mathematical way to calculate the target score for the team batting second in a one-day cricket or Twenty20 cricket match interrupted by weather or other circumstance. It is generally accepted to be a fair and accurate method of setting a target score, but as it attempts to predict what would have happened had the game come to its natural conclusion, it generates some controversy.

A simple example of the method being applied was the first One Day International (ODI) between India and Pakistan in their 2006 ODI series. India batted first, and were all out in the 49th over for 328. Pakistan, batting second, were 7 wickets down for 311 when bad light stopped play after the 47th over.

In this example, Pakistan's target, had the match continued, was 18 runs in as many balls, with three wickets in hand. Considering the overall scoring rate throughout the match, this is a target most teams would be favoured to achieve. And indeed, application of the method resulted in a target score of 304 at the end of the 47th over, with the officially listed result as "Pakistan won by 7 runs"

The essence of the Duckworth Lewis method is ‘resources'. Each team is taken to have two ‘resources' to use to make as many runs as possible: the number of overs they have to receive; and the number of wickets they have in hand. At any point in any innings, a team's ability to score more runs depends on the combination of these two resources. Looking at historical scores, there is a very close correspondence between the availability of these resources and a team's final score, a correspondence which the method exploits.

Using a published table which gives the percentage of these combined resources remaining for any number of overs left and wickets lost, the target score can be adjusted up or down to reflect the loss of resources to one or both teams when a match is shortened one or more times. This percentage is then used to calculate a target that is usually a fractional number of runs. If the second team passes the target then the second team is taken to have won the match; if the match ends when the second team has exactly met (but not passed) the target (rounded down to the next integer) then the match is taken to be a tie.