There are mistakes and then there are MISTAKES. If you throw away your wicket while batting, that is a mistake because you can always argue that if the shot went right, you would be praised instead of being criticized. Same can be said for bowling mistakes. You take risks, which, by definition, have downsides. But there are other mistakes that leave you with, “What in the world is wrong with you? Are you illiterate? Can you not read a piece of paper that simply has a list of numbers on it?”

John Dyson committed a MISTAKE. Even as the West Indies have won their first series against a major Test nation after a long time, Dyson, at least for the short-term, will be remembered for this amazing piece of incompetence. The only thing that may perhaps comfort him is that he is not alone. The South Africans famously messed up their 2003 World Cup campaign by hitting a drawing score instead a winning one, and then crashing out. Dyson went one better, by choosing a losing score, though the ramifications are not as severe as exiting a World Cup. This mistake is now immortalized in his Wikipedia entry.

Which leads me to my conclusion: The Duckworth-Lewis calculations may be lucid to statisticians and those inclined towards math and numbers, but apparently they are heavy going for sports persons and coaches. One option may be to make the charts much easier. But another option is to provide the details right there on the giant scorecard in the stadium itself. Here is the simplest form:

WI behind by 1 run

This information would be updated at all times by a certified Duckworth-Lewis computer program after every ball. In addition, every player on and off the field would have a pager-like device that would provide this information and also allow captains and coaches to explore scenarios such as what happens if one or more wickets are lost. All the information would be streamed from a single source so that there can be no point of confusion.