Dead-rubber
Encyclopedia
Dead rubber is a term used in sport
ing parlance to describe a match
in a series
where the series result has already been decided by earlier matches. The dead rubber match therefore has no effect on the winner and loser of the series, other than the number of matches won and lost.
The term is widely used in Davis Cup
and Fed Cup
tennis
, as well as in international cricket
and field hockey
series.
For example, in Davis Cup series', each pair of competing countries play five matches (rubbers) where the winner is decided on a best-of-five basis. Where the result is known before the completion of the five matches (if one side accumulates an unassailable number of victories (three)), the remaining match or matches are said to be dead-rubbers.
Because the result of a dead rubber match is unimportant in the series result, winning teams in one-sided competitions sometimes have difficulty in completing a clean sweep of the series. This is because often dead-rubber matches are played in a less intense atmosphere, thus allowing the lesser team to sneak a win. Sometimes, a second-string player who has not played much in top-level competition is used to play a dead rubber in order to gain experience.
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
ing parlance to describe a match
Game
A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...
in a series
Playoff format
There are several different Playoff formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the single elimination, the best-of- series, the total points series, and the round-robin tournament.-Single elimination:A Single...
where the series result has already been decided by earlier matches. The dead rubber match therefore has no effect on the winner and loser of the series, other than the number of matches won and lost.
The term is widely used in Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
and Fed Cup
Fed Cup
Fed Cup is the premier team competition in women's tennis, launched in 1963 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the International Tennis Federation...
tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, as well as in international cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
and field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
series.
For example, in Davis Cup series', each pair of competing countries play five matches (rubbers) where the winner is decided on a best-of-five basis. Where the result is known before the completion of the five matches (if one side accumulates an unassailable number of victories (three)), the remaining match or matches are said to be dead-rubbers.
Because the result of a dead rubber match is unimportant in the series result, winning teams in one-sided competitions sometimes have difficulty in completing a clean sweep of the series. This is because often dead-rubber matches are played in a less intense atmosphere, thus allowing the lesser team to sneak a win. Sometimes, a second-string player who has not played much in top-level competition is used to play a dead rubber in order to gain experience.
See also
- Rubber matchRubber matchAccording to Paul Dickson's The New Dickson's Baseball Dictionary , a "rubber game" is "The last and deciding game of a series when the previous games have been split; e.g., the seventh game of the World Series." This tie-breaking sense of "rubber" apparently originated in the English game of...
- match where the third bout is significant to the victor of the series