ICC updates the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) System

ICC release the updated version of DLS

The International Cricket Council released the updated version of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) System and ICC Code of Conduct on Saturday.

The new rules are supposed to get implemented from 30 September when South Africa plays against Zimbabwe for the first ODI in Kemberly.

Four new offences have also been introduced in the Code of Conduct for Player Support Personnel and Players. ICC has stated that any attempt of gaining an unfair advantage and a personal abuse will be a Level 2 or a Level 3 offence. According to the new rules, a player who disobeys the umpire’s instruction or indulges in audible obscenity on the field, he shall be charged on the basis of level 1 offence.

ICC introduces the third version of DLS System

DLS was introduced in 2014 and it has undergone changes twice and ICC has tried to bring a reform in the system again for the third time. It took into consideration a detailed ball-by-ball analysis of scoring patterns during the Power Plays over the last four years.

It fetches the data from 700 ODIs and 428 T20Is comprising of 240,000 outcomes of individual deliveries. the latest trends suggest that the teams have started accelerating before thus extending their acceleration patterns for longer periods as a result of which the average scores in ODIs have increased. Par score calculations assume that the teams will now be in a position for scoring a higher proportion of their runs at the end.

The results suggest that while overall scoring rates are obviously different, wicket-adjusted resource utilization rates are almost identical.

It thus concludes that a single version of the DLS System is compatible with all formats.

ICC Playing Conditions

With the Cricket World Cup less than a year away, the ICC has decided not to make any major changes to the existing playing conditions. However, there are only a couple of minor changes, which are:

Clauses 11.4 (ODI), 11.7 and 12.8 (Tests) – allows a match to be concluded before a scheduled interval.

Clause 19 (Test, ODI and T20I) – Unless the boundary is the maximum 90 yards from the centre of the pitch, the boundary rope cannot be any more than 10 yards from the edge of the available playing area.