Lewis of 'DLS method' cricket fame dies, aged 78

Tony Lewis, one of the men behind the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method used in weather-affected limited overs cricket matches, has died aged 78, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced Wednesday.

"It is with much sadness that the ECB has learned of the passing of Tony Lewis MBE, aged 78," said a statement.

"Tony, alongside fellow mathematician Frank Duckworth, devised the Duckworth-Lewis method which was introduced in 1997 and adopted officially by the ICC (International Cricket Council) in 1999.

"Renamed the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Method in 2014, the mathematical formula continues to be used in rain reduced limited overs cricket games across the globe."
Duckworth, the more outspoken of the founding duo -- fellow statistician Steven Stern helped revise the formula several years later -- said: "I recall hearing (commentator) Christopher Martin-Jenkins on radio saying 'surely someone, somewhere could come up with something better' and I soon realised that it was a mathematical problem that required a mathematical solution."