New cricket scoring system introduced

The hi-tech Darnley Boxill Scoring System has been adopted by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) as the official scoring system to be used throughout the region.

And, in an effort to ensure that users of the system are adequately trained, Boxill will be despatched to several Caribbean countries to conduct a series of workshops in the build-up to next year’s Carib Beer Series regional tournament. “It’s a good thing they have recognised the usefulness of the system and they want to integrate the system as part of their development,” Boxill has said. “Statistics can provide a lot of useful information to guide in terms of development of our young cricketers,” added the former Barbados wicketkeeper and highly-qualified coach. Before stepping down as WICB president earlier this year, Reverend Wes Hall, in a letter to stakeholders of regional cricket, said versions of the Boxill system would be used as an integral part of the West Indies cricket development thrust and as part of their cricket database. “I am convinced that this system constitutes a watershed in the cricket scoring system around the world and would encourage that you support this worthy venture in the interest of West Indies cricket,” Hall said.

Boxill’s system, launched in 1993, is highly elaborate and includes a manual version and an electronic element that involves the use of desktop computers, laptops, palm pilots and electronic scoreboards. The system does more than record runs scored and wickets taken. It provides a comprehensive analysis that includes where runs are gathered, how many runs a batsman scores off every bowler and other useful data. It is anticipated that the system will be used at all levels, filtering down to club and schools’ matches.

If used effectively, coaches will be able to analyse players even before they have reached the higher levels of the game. “Our cricketers are no less talented than anyone else in the world, but it is getting them to translate it into performance and about identifying strengths and weaknesses,” Boxill said. “This is a step in that direction where we now use information better to assist us.This move by the WICB to lend their full support and recommend the use of it at all levels of cricket in the West Indies should make a big difference. “Enough was not being done. Now that we have the blessings of the WICB, one would hope that it will be widely used throughout the region,” he said. It is left to be seen in Trinidad and Tobago when the old scorebooks will be changed for this, as most clubs are too poor to afford such expensive equipment as may be demanded by this new scoring system.