Toss Innovations

[Armadillo]

I thought of this while doing the toss in a game of table tennis. In an informal game of table tennis, the toss is won, not by luck, but by winning a preliminary point.
With cricket getting more and more dependable on the toss, I propose a competitive situation in order for a team to win the toss. For example, one player from each team has to hit a target of some sort with a cricket ball in a sort of a penalty shootout format, the first player to miss loses his team the toss. This idea can be refined, but it would be much better if the team winning the toss (and probably winning the game) could deserve to win the toss instead of going on luck.
Comments?

 

[Richard]

I've long been in favour of a bowl-out rather than a toss.

 

[luckyeddie]

It's quite obvious that surfaces are heavily tailored towards the strengths of the home side.

Under such circumstances, why have a toss anyway? Allow the visiting captain the choice of batting or bowling first in order to redress the balance.

 

[Richard]

Why neutralise what has been tradition from time immemorial?
Wipe-out home advantage and you wipe-out the point of playing cricket in different places.
The decision on what to do, which is sometimes integral, should be decided by skill, not luck or default.

 

[steds]

Let's stick with throwing a coin. Quicker and less complicated.

 

[luckyeddie]

Why neutralise what has been tradition from time immemorial?
Wipe-out home advantage and you wipe-out the point of playing cricket in different places.
The decision on what to do, which is sometimes integral, should be decided by skill, not luck or default.

On the one hand you speak as though you are a conservative, wanting to retain the 'tradition' of cheating groundsmen shaving the grass off the surface or burying spark plugs, then you come up with a bunch of hippie tree-hugging political correct nonsense like 'let's take luck out of the equation entirely and have a bowl-off'.

Liberal rubbish.

 

[Richard]

If you ask me it's as simple as...
Some traditions are worth maintaining.
Some aren't.
You can't tell me I have to want to maintain all traditions if I want to maintain some. It doesn't work like that.
If your team has weakness in seam-bowling and your opposition has a strength there, it's only logical to prepare a surface with no grass. Likewise any other strength, be it spin or batting.
Tell me - what is the point playing cricket anywhere if you don't have a home advantage?
You know me - the more luck taken out of the equation, the better.
Pitch-preparation, however, doesn't involve any luck outside the weather - it's all about the skill of the groundsman.
The groundsman who prepares the pitch most helpful to his team is the best.

 

[Richard]

Let's stick with throwing a coin. Quicker and less complicated.

Just because it's a bit quicker and not remotely less complicated means it's not worth doing even though it's infinately fairer?

 

[sirjeremy11]

It's quite obvious that surfaces are heavily tailored towards the strengths of the home side.

Under such circumstances, why have a toss anyway? Allow the visiting captain the choice of batting or bowling first in order to redress the balance.

Plus, if this happens, you would get more neutral pitches, which will be fair rather than favouring one side or the other. Or the other extreme is that they will make roads like they did in Pakistan last month. Then the toss doesn't really matter anyway.

 

[BlackCap_Fan]

I never realised that the point of playing games all over the world was for home team advantage. I thought it was so that poor shmucks like me could go watch.

Nothin' better than a day at the cricket.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

I'm with Richard on this one. Home advantage, providing that the pitches remain safe and give a chance of a reasonable contest (ie: no uneven minefields, Mumbai 2004's or Lahore 2006s), pro-home side pitch preperation is a good thing.

 

[Jono]

If we were to give the visiting side the choice of whether to bat or bowl first, what would we do on neutral grounds in ODIs such as in the WC, Champions Trophy, tri-series etc. If we only tossed a coin then, it'd be inconsistent I reckon.

Plus I think a 3 or 5 test series where the visiting side always chose to bat or bowl first if that was the right thing to do would take away a bit from the contest.

 

[andyc]

Let's stick with throwing a coin. Quicker and less complicated.

Agreed.

 

[33/3from3.3]

toss the freking coin

 

[SteveG]

I never realised that the point of playing games all over the world was for home team advantage. I though it was so that poor shmucks like me could go watch.

Nothin' better than a day at the cricket.

I totally agree.

Maybe Groundsmen around the world prepare pitches to suit home teams, maybe they don't...we have home/away series so we (as fans) can watch test cricket and thats it. Each Cricket Board would like to see matches go into the 5th day, not end on the 3rd or 4th...so to prepare a pitch that is distinctly geared towards more spin, more bounce etc just flies in the face of logic. I don't recall the pitches having a huge bearing on the outcome of last years Ashes series...I seem to remember that it was the brilliance of some of the players that made the difference.

 

[age_master]

toss the freking coin

indeed

though table tennis could be amusing

 

[Zinzan]

Some traditions are worth maintaining.
Some aren't.
You can't tell me I have to want to maintain all traditions if I want to maintain some. It doesn't work like that.
If your team has weakness in seam-bowling and your opposition has a strength there, it's only logical to prepare a surface with no grass. Likewise any other strength, be it spin or batting.
Tell me - what is the point playing cricket anywhere if you don't have a home advantage?
You know me - the more luck taken out of the equation, the better.
Pitch-preparation, however, doesn't involve any luck outside the weather - it's all about the skill of the groundsman.
The groundsman who prepares the pitch most helpful to his team is the best.

Richard....I do wish you would add the words .."In my opinion" to some of your reply's rather than talking about subjective things as gospel. I'm not even saying I disagree with this particular comment, its just you always talk about subjective opinions as if they are facts.

 

[Jamee999]

Yes, let's remove any small advantage Bangladesh could get, and put them in a worse position than they are now.

 

[krishneelz]

paper sissors rock requires great skill and is also really quick. Also the coin toss could be forged but paper sissors rock cant

 

[Richard]

Plus, if this happens, you would get more neutral pitches, which will be fair rather than favouring one side or the other. Or the other extreme is that they will make roads like they did in Pakistan last month. Then the toss doesn't really matter anyway.

All pitches favour one side or the other, even if only slightly.