The fatal flaw in the Duckworth/Lewis formula for deciding unfinished cricket matches is that it makes no allowance for genius, flair and sheer, joyous inspiration. Any formula which omits these factors in sport, especially any sporting contest involving the West Indies, is for me irretrievably condemned. What is sport at its ultimate and in its essence if it is not about genius, flair and inspiration?
If the D/L formula had had to be applied at the end of over 15 of the West Indies innings when we played Australia in the recent World Cup Twenty 20 tournament we would have lost emphatically. Also, against Pakistan we scored over 80 in our last 5 overs. I hope you remember we won both those matches on the field of play. Against Sri Lanka in the semi-final with seven overs to go we had about the same number of runs to make to win as we made against Australia and Pakistan in our last five overs. But the hailstorm came and D/L coldly and mathematically condemned us to perdition. In such a vital match in a World Cup that was ridiculous – the ICC in its planning should always give every possible opportunity for the contest to be finished and not allow a formula to suck the very heart and soul of the game out of a culminating encounter. It is a travesty that the defending World Champions lost by calculation not actual combat.
Having got that off my chest, I have something else to say about, and a lesson to draw from, the cricket I have been
