Snap poll. You've won the toss and you....?

[Gough]

Per the title.

 

[jannissary]

i always bowled when i had to captain, preferred to have a target to chase than a total to defend

 

[Kapow!!!]

Bat because most of the bowlers have been at the pub with me pre-game and they tended to get shitty with me if I made them field after 3-4 pints.

 

[bluebob1]

i always bowled when i had to captain, preferred to have a target to chase than a total to defend

i suspect that you didnt have to bat with a pink ball under lights though. Bat first in pink ball four hours of good conditions before it gets tough (if Aust last that long)

 

[jannissary]

i suspect that you didnt have to bat with a pink ball under lights though. Bat first in pink ball four hours of good conditions before it gets tough (if Aust last that long)

only white balls, fortunately

 

[Richard Pryor]

In Tests always bat first. In limited overs, bowl first. Not enough time in limited overs for pitch to meaningfully change and I think is huge advantage to know what the total being aimed for is.

 

[Cleavy]

Unless it’s a green mamba, you bat 99 times out of 100

 

[rdhopkins2]

You bat. Unless it’s Hobart or England after a week of rain. Even then you still think about batting.

Tough to chase on an up and down pitch later in the match. Get the runs on the board first.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

i always bowled when i had to captain, preferred to have a target to chase than a total to defend

Australia aren't the greatest chasers in the 4th innings. They need runs on the board

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Traditionally I would bowl first in Perth. Bow; first in Brisbane. Bat first in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney.

 

[PhatBoy]

More and more I get the impression with teams like India and England there’s a degree of bravado about their decisions at the toss.

A more sensible decision, and no it’s not just a hindsight one, would have been from Sharma to bowl yesterday. It’s a pink ball on a pitch that looked a bit juicy and you have a team under a lot of pressure as a batting unit and 1-0 down in the series.

Smelled a little bit like ‘we want to show that we couldn’t care less about the conditions and will just take them out of the equation.’

 

[Plugger35]

Bat first, unless the pitch looks like a raging green seamer with cloudy overhead conditions then you might think of bowling first.

The Black Caps are currently showing the folly of choosing to bowl first when conditions weren't favourable enough to bowl first.

 

[PhatBoy]

Bat first, unless the pitch looks like a raging green seamer with cloudy overhead conditions then you might think of bowling first.

The Black Caps are currently showing the folly of choosing to bowl first when conditions weren't favourable enough to bowl first.

Yeah they were. They had England 4-40.

You bottled it mate and paid the price. The pitch has turned into a pancake by midway through day two. All you had to do from there was keep England to under 200 and poke through until Stumps 2-down or so.

 

[L_W_P]

I always wonder how things would go if we scrapped the toss and just let the visiting captain decide what they want to do.

Surely it would be an end to insane pitch doctoring?

No point serving up an absolute road if you know the opposition get to choose to bat first. Same with a green monster or a cracked, crumbly, spinners paradise.

Maybe it would be too much of an advantage for the visiting team to always decide? But if they are true enough wickets then both teams should be ok?