Where there has been cricket, there has been rain. The illustrious history of the game has enjoyed a love-hate relationship with the heavens above. But, more than anything else, it has been the rain rules that have often put a damper on the proceedings
CRICKET and rain have had a long relationship. Rain is an important factor in determining the outcome of a match. Ever since the South African tragedy in the 1992 World Cup semi-final, we have seen more than once, teams robbed of victory due to the rain factor and the concerned rain rules. These rules have been especially brutal in One-Day game.
However, over the years, various rain rules have been devised, and implemented, to counter the affect of rain interruptions in matches. But instead of finding a fixed solution, there have been mixed results. Still despite each rule having its own limitation, they have provided a way of getting results in rain affected matches, making cricket unpredictable, interesting and to an extent cruel for the losing team.
Let us take a look at some of the methods, which have been used over the years. These rain rules are an interesting addition to the game of cricket and a lot of effort has been put in devising them.
EARLY RAIN-RULES: The first ever rain rule that was established was quite simple and minus any complications. A minimum of 15 overs per team was required for a decision. If rain or bad light were to disrupt the first innings of a One-Day International, an equal number of overs were deducted from each team’s quota.
If rain interruptions took place during the second innings, the team batting second was set the target, which the team batting first had scored at a similar stage. The rule did not take into account the remaining overs of the team batting first. However, this rule caused discrepancies.
The problem was spotted and a rule was devised to take into account the overall run-rate of the team batting first. The team batting second had to score at a better run-rate than the overall run-rate of the first team to win the match.
1992 WORLD CUP IN AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND: The rule was nothing but a mere controversy. According to the Australian Rain Rule, the highest scoring overs of the team batting first were considered and 0.5 per cent was deducted for each over lost from the first team’s score. The rule was implemented in the 1992/93 season and was based on results of the 1991/92 World Cup.
The problems that affect the fairness of the rain rules still persist and even the implementation of new rules has not improved the conditions a great deal.
ICC 1995 RAIN RULE FOR CRICKET: This rule was promulgated at the July 1995 ICC meeting. The method used the Target Score Calculation table for the calculation of the target score for the team batting second. The Table had been devised keeping in mind the normal performance factor and thus like all rain rules did not cater to the above or below normal performances. This method did not take into consideration the wickets lost or remaining. Let us consider a few examples of this rule.
EXAMPLE 1: Suppose, the team batting first scores 250 in 50 overs. The team batting second loses 10 overs due to rain. Thus, the target for the team batting second would be (250)(0.907)=227. 0.907 is the value corresponding to 40 overs, which the second team will face in this case.
EXAMPLE 2: Suppose, the team batting first scores 250 in 40 overs. The team batting second loses 15 overs due to rain. Thus, the target for the team batting second would be (250)*[(0.84)/(0.907)]=232. The value 0.84 corresponds to 35 overs of play, whereas 0.907 corresponds to 40 overs of play. The team batting first faced 40 overs where as the team batting second would face 35 overs.
CLARK-SAMSON RULE: The rule has been used in South Africa. Once a target has been set, the Clark-Samson Rule uses a curve which gives a standard against which a team may measure its performance (par) for the duration of the innings.
A second curve is also used for calculating targets when the number of overs is reduced before the start of an innings. Since rain may occur at different times during a match and the effect that the interruption has, depends, not only on its duration, but also on when it occurs, different treatments are applied depending upon when the interruption occurs in relation to the match.
Another feature of the system is that wickets are taken into account under certain circumstances. The method uses three types of tables. Their briefs are below.
Par Percentage Table: The table is a series, which gives the Par Percentage of the score, which should be completed after each ball in limited overs, match between 20 and 50 overs. To determine the Par Percentage the number of overs and balls bowled is considered.
Percentage Reduction Table: The Table gives the percentage by which the total score reduces as the number of overs reduce (Percentage Reduction). This is shown as a percentage of the target for innings originally scheduled for 45 and 50 overs.
Wicket Ratio Table: The table gives the ratio of the final score to current score at the fall of each wicket.
Stoppages: The method defines six types of stoppages. These are:
* When the delay occurs before commencement of the first innings
* When the delay occurs during the first innings but not so as to curtail it completely.
* When the delay occurs during the first innings so as to curtail it completely.
* When the delay occurs before commencement of the second innings and after end of the first.
* When the delay occurs during the second innings so as not to curtail it completely.
* When the delay occurs during the second innings so as to curtail it completely.
Thus, the rule uses the above mentioned information and then a target is devised based on the position of the match.
DUCKWORTH-LEWIS METHOD: Predominantly, the Duckworth-Lewis method is the most widely used rain rule in cricket today. The Duckworth-Lewis method of resetting targets in rain affected One-Day cricket matches was initially used successfully during 1997 season, by the ICC, the ECB and the Zimbabwe Cricket Union.
Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis have devised this method. Frank Duckworth by profession is a consultant statistician and the editor of the Royal Statistical Society’s monthly news magazine. Tony Lewis is on the Faculty of Computer Studies and Mathematics at the University of the West of England, Bristol and is the chairman of the Western Branch of the Operational Research Society.
The Duckworth-Lewis method takes into consideration the resources that teams have with them, which enable teams to score runs. These resources are the number of wickets remaining and the number of overs at hand. From any stage in their innings, the team’s run-scoring capability depends mutually on both these two resources. The table, which is given later, gives the percentage of these combined resources that remain for any number of overs left and wickets lost.
When a match is shortened after it has begun, the target for the team batting second is revised. This is done keeping in view that the resources of one or both teams are depleted and resources for scoring runs are usually different for each team. The Duckworth-Lewis method does this in accordance with the relative run-scoring resources available to the two teams. The more the resources, the better the run scoring ability and the easier is the target that is set. On the contrary, fewer resources mean a weaker run scoring ability; thus a stiffer target is set. The method has been revised over the years. Modifications have been made in the resources table.
After actually devising the rule in 1997 certain updates were made in 1999, 2001 and 2002. In 2001, a few subtle changes were made in the application of the Duckworth-Lewis method in order to improve its suitability to cricket’s requirements. In the year 2002, Tony and Frank not only made modifications to the applications of the method but also modified the table and thus new values have been included. Examples based on the 2002 Resource Table * Rain forces the match to end: Let us assume that the team batting first scored 240 runs for the loss of seven wickets in their stipulated 50 overs. On the other hand the second team receives 40 overs scoring 170 runs for the loss of five wickets, before the match is brought to an end by a rain interruption.
The first team played out its overs without interruption thus it had 100 per cent of its resources at the commencement of its innings. On the contrary, the second team has five wickets in hand and 10 overs remaining at the point of interruption which means that they have 26.1 per cent (from the table) resources available in their reserves. Thus the required target for them at this stage would be (240) x (0.739), which is 177. Thus, the second team loses the match by seven runs.
* Revised target for the team batting second: For example the team batting first scores 240 runs for the loss of seven wickets. On the other hand, rain interrupts before the commencement of the second team’s innings. Ten overs are lost due to rain. Team two had 100 per cent of its resources intact before the interruption. Now after the rain halt, the second team has 89.3 per cent of its resources available. Thus, the team needs to score [(0.893)/100]x(240) which is equal to 214.
Like all other rules, The Duckworth-Lewis Method is also subject to certain imperfections. People who have devised this law agree that individual match winning performances (such as last ball six or hat trick at some point in match) are neglected in their method. However, they believe it is very difficult to model the individual exceptional efforts considering the large standard deviation in the individual efforts.
Although a substantial amount of effort is being put in devising appropriate rain rules to combat the effect of rain disruptions, yet there has been limited success. All these rain rules have had their problems and there is a certain degree of controversy surrounding their effectiveness. Considering the amount of research taking place these days, a better, a more practical and fair rule may be around the corner, yet it is quite obvious that it will not be free of imperfections.
Where there has been cricket, there has been rain. The illustrious history of the game has enjoyed a love-hate relationship with the heavens above. But, more than anything else, it has been the rain rules that have often put a damper on the proceedings 
