The WICB will focus on building the Caribbean Twenty20 Tournament to include the two finalists of England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) friends Provident Twenty20, in addition to Canada. – WICB CEO Ernest Hilaire.
IN THE WEST INDIES TWENTY20 MATCH on July 23, Barbados scored 180-6 in its 20 overs and the Combined Colleges and Campuses scored 180-5 in its 20 overs.
The match was declared a tie and the Duckworth/Lewis tie-break super-over failed to break the tie and the match was awarded to Barbados who hit more sixes.
Coincidentally, in the ECB Twenty20 Friends Provident final on August 14, Somerset scored 173-6 in its 20 overs, whereas Hampshire scored 173-5 in its 20 and won the title by losing fewer wickets.
In the ICC Twenty20 championship match May 3, England scored 191-5 in its 20 overs; West Indies with six overs was set a target of 60 with all ten wickets, but Paul Collinwood, England’s captain, said: “This 20/20 format is blatantly unfair to the side that bat first and must be recalibrated.”
However, inventor Frank Duckworth in a terse retort said that “of the 74 matches where the Duckworth/Lewis were applied, Mr Collinwood on two occasions has been the only dissenter, and there will be no recalibration”. (Cricinfo)
However, on the same day, May 3, Sri Lanka scored 173-7 in its 20 overs; Zimbabwe with five overs were set a target of 43 with all ten wickets.
How can these two targets be fair? Note carefully, the ECB introduced the Duckworth/Lewis system to limited-overs cricket in 1997 and it was adopted by the ICC in 1999.
However, if the Friends Provident final is anything to go by, the ECB have scrapped the Duckworth/Lewis super-over aspect, whereas the WICB introduction of the more sixes hit buttresses it.
And hence the question to be answered is this: since the ECB teams will be playing in the WICB competition, which system will be used? I look forward to a response from Duckworth/Lewis and/or WICB’s CEO Ernest Hilaire.
JEFF LAYNE
