Duckworth Lewis Method

Songs about cricket may not be everybody’s cup of tea. But the Duckworth Lewis Method are a call to the crease to any cricket fan.

The DLM are Neil Hannon (Devine Comedy) and Thomas Walsh (Pugwash) and take their name from the mathematical methodology used to decide the targets for the chasing team in rain effected games. Their first album (I hope they do more) was a tongue-in-cheek whistle-stop tour of cricketing folklore and loosely coupled cricket related summer songs. It was one of my favourite albums from last year

Tonight’s gig was the first time they had played together for about 6 months, but it didn’t matter. Their live performances aren’t based on tight performances but are laid back performances, by friends and for friends. Tonight’s performance was no exception, with breaks for ‘tea’ and at one point ‘rain stopped play’ causing the band to stop and open the umbrellas.

With only one album to draw upon it meant DLM had to play it to completion. But with two frontmen who don’t take themselves too seriously who happily filled the time with light banter and anecdotes the night was thoroughly enjoyable. The highlight for me was ‘Jiggery Pokery’. With only one album they fell back on a rather small pool of cricket related songs and eventually playing songs from their album for the second time! But no one in the audience was complaining. The evening was finished off with a fantastic rendition of ‘Soul Limbo’ by Booker T and the MG’s, better known to cricket fans as BBC TV’s cricket theme tune