Would the removal of the coin toss in Tests make the five-day game more interesting?

[OMB]

Hello PPers,

I've been a regular non-participating member for several years. I joined up recently and would like to hear your criticisms and opinions on the toss. I tried looking for previous discussions on this topic but found nothing.

The toss is the one aspect of a match which is completely left to chance and no amount of practice can improve or worsen your prospects of making the right call. Getting it wrong can often mean your team is on the back foot before the players have even taken to the field.

I've been following cricket for over 40 years and this issue has persistently bothered me. I'm in the UK and for a test match if the conditions are overcast and the pitch helpful, losing the toss can at times effectively render the match over in the first session for the side batting first - generally the toss loser. Similarly on the subcontinent, if it's hot and the pitch is dry and unrelenting for the bowler, the side batting first controls the game by virtue of winning the toss.

I've often wondered how to mitigate the advantage so it doesn't hamper the losing team so drastically. I think I have a workable solution and if I had the ear of the MCC I'd propose the following change; both captains name their respective teams prior to the toss but the losing captain is then allowed to make one change to their team after being told whether they're batting or bowling. This obviously balances the toss loss somwwhat just considering the two aforementioned examples of conditions, what are your thoughts?

On the contrary, such restrictions (one player) will reduce the strategising in cricket which is a great fun for cricket followers in itself. While it balances the toss it imbalances the team as just one player can spoil the game very quickly for the team who becomes more disadvantaged.

The present coin toss system and team selection is fair in the sense that it gives 100% chance to form your best XI and 50% chance for the toss itself.

 

[Pascal Gambit]

Nah it’s fair. Visiting sides need to be tested properly, the home side will be tested as well, that’s what the toss promises, 50-50, no discrimination.

I do like the idea of being able to name XI AFTER the toss.

(Thanks for moving this to the appropriate thread admin. I'm obviously not following ad closely as I claimed as I was completely unaware this had even been discussed formally, lol. In my defence, I did get married about 10 years ago and have a young family so my attention to the finer points is not there..)

I think we're on the same page. Indeed, naming the team after the toss could work perfectly well too. However in contrast, I'd limit the selection to a squad of 13 players, otherwise it'd become too convoluted IMO..

 

[Pascal Gambit]

I've never got the criticism and I never will. I think its part and parcel of the game and adds an interesting and unique element to the game.

Simply giving the choice to the home or away team would be unjust and would likely make the game more predictable. By having a 50/50 chance it comes down to the luck of the draw and is therefore not something you can control.

My gripe with the toss is this point; if the home captain calls it correctly then all three factors (conditions, pitch and your team) which strongly influence the decision to bat or ball first becomes an advantage and it is the home team's match to lose from that point on. Furthermore, winning the toss also means your knowledge and experience in home conditions will put the opposition at a distinct disadvantage. With all these variables now in your control, you'd have to terribly incompetent to lose the match from that point.

The stats in a previous post above underscore the predictability of these situations. If the match was in England and the opposition could drop a bowler for a batsman or in India dropping a batsman for a bowler, I feel this gives the visiting team a chance to negate some of that home team advantage.

 

[Pascal Gambit]

What about the games at neutral venues then? Like the world cups and Tri series' and the WTC finals?

This the point - you'd want the change to be universally applicable to every series or competition across the board..

 

[rhony]

I like the idea of picking a team after the toss at least in test cricket. That's a brilliant insight.