'I'm a big fan of taking away the toss' - Du Plessis

[Daemon]

Any suggestion which results in the groundsman knowing which team has won the toss a few days or weeks (whatever a reasonable pitch doctoring time frame is) before a game won't be good for the game.

I also don't like the idea of the visiting side having a toss advantage. Why should Bangladesh be punished when Australia tour?

Keep the toss, and once a side has won >50% of the tosses in a series, the other team gets a go. This might mean the groundsmen for the subsequent tests might have enough time to alter conditions if a side wins the first few tosses though.

Tough.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Any suggestion which results in the groundsman knowing which team has won the toss a few days or weeks (whatever a reasonable pitch doctoring time frame is) before a game won't be good for the game.

my suggestion fits all criteria IMO

Why should Bangladesh be punished when Australia tour?

Because giving Bangladesh a pitch to prepare and expecting them not to doctor it is like putting a double-choc muffin in front of a fat kid and thinking he's just going to leave it alone.

 

[Daemon]

my suggestion fits all criteria IMO



Because giving Bangladesh a pitch to prepare and expecting them not to doctor it is like putting a double-choc muffin in front of a fat kid and thinking he's just going to leave it alone.

But that's the beauty of winning away isn't it? I don't want it to be any easier for touring sides, just fairer for both, if that makes any sense.

 

[vcs]

Yes, "pitch doctoring" is the only thing that keeps Sri Lanka, Bangladesh etc. competitive.

I'm all for it.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Giving the away team the choice of whether to bat or bowl first has always felt to me to be an artificial equalizer. Teams should just git gud overseas.

 

[Borges]

Winning an away series should continue to be a big thing. Winning in Bangladesh should mean something to the victor.

Without pitches having a distinct home character, you get that absurd caricature of cricket called ODI. Do not reduce test matches to an extended form of that kind of misery.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Giving the away team the choice of whether to bat or bowl first has always felt to me to be an artificial equalizer. Teams should just git gud overseas.

Giving people with sepsis antibiotics always felt to me like artificial life-saving. They should just git gud themselves imo

 

[Dan]

Pitch doctoring isn't a thing*, and losing a cricket game doesn't kill you.

Git gud overseas.


*well, it is, but its completely a completely legitimate tactic.

 

[Daemon]

I don't know why the toss argument has somehow conflated with the home away stuff.

 

[Dan]

I think a lot of the discussion stemmed from home/away stuff to begin with. From my understanding of how it developed, during that period where away wins were almost impossible, people felt like the balance between home and visiting teams had been irreparably screwed, and needed to be fixed by giving away teams an advantage. The best way of doing this was apparently by removing the toss entirely.

If I'm mistaken in how it all came about, my bad for conflating the two.

 

[Dan]

Also Hills/Flats clearly the solution to this non-existent problem

 

[OverratedSanity]

I don't know why the toss argument has somehow conflated with the home away stuff.

That's because they're inextricably linked.

 

[Daemon]

That's because they're inextricably linked.

I know what you mean - tosses are made important because of certain pitches which are prepared by the host, but my point was that there's no need to use the toss as a way to neutralise the home advantage, which is where the discussion suddenly seemed to veer into.

 

[Prince EWS]

I know what you mean - tosses are made important because of certain pitches which are prepared by the host, but my point was that there's no need to use the toss as a way to neutralise the home advantage, which is where the discussion suddenly seemed to veer into.

Yeah I don't see letting the away team choose as a way to neutralise the home advantage; I just see it as an incentive to prepare pitches that don't give a ridiculous advantage to the team batting first or bowling first, given the team *not* choosing would be preparing the pitch. Giving an advantage to the team suited to certain conditions wouldn't necessarily go away.

Unfortunately the pitches that give the least advantage to the team batting first or bowling first tend to be the ones that don't really give anyone an advantage at all though - ie. the safest option would be a slow road. If it was a possible to consistently prepare turners or seamers that didn't have a toss advantage baked into them then this idea would work great, but preparing a wicket that produced an interesting game would be more of a leap of faith.

 

[Burner]

This is a problem without a solution imo. Take away the toss and you'll probably end up with a series like ENG in India recently. The better team will win but it will be really dull watching. Between two even sides it will probably be very difficult to even see results. I'd rather have the current problems with the team winning the toss having an obvious advantage. Series' in SA are some of the most watchable cricket lately.

 

[hooked2cric]

Hi I know this is the wrong thread to post in but dont know where to post either. Can someone point to WorldCup 2019 thread ? I am unable to find it. I am planning to buy tickets and need some help.

 

[sledger]

Should allow the away team to prepare the pitches imo

 

[NZTailender]

There should be a ???? option like in video games and it randomly gets generated seconds before the game. Green top? Raging turner? Road? Rainbow road? Who knows!

 

[TheJediBrah]

I don't know why the toss argument has somehow conflated with the home away stuff.

Mostly because certain home sides are preparing raging turners to suit them/make it difficult for the opposition, and letting the touring side choose to bat first on them every time (which would be a significant advantage) may discourage them for doing this

doesn't matter if you think pitch doctoring isn't an issue though

 

[Victor Ian]

First test is a toss. Thereafter the losser of previous test gets to choose.