Former Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist has voiced his support in favour of keeping with the tradition of tossing the coin to decide which team bats or bowls first in Test match cricket.
Gilchrist doesn't think this way but there has been a general opinion around the world that the time has come to find a one-time solution to negate excessive home advantage to teams in red-ball cricket and one sure short way, everyone believes, is to scrap the toss, giving the away team the chance to decide their course of action first, hence ensuring the home side premeditatedly makes better pitches.
For example, if Australia is due to travel to India with the rule that the visiting team will decide whether to bat or bowl first, the Indian team will be forced to ensure pitches that last good for five days, deteriorating at a natural pace and not the excessively turning ones where batting first becomes a huge advantage and batting last a big misery.
Gilchrist disagrees with former Australian great Allan Border and current South African Captain Faf du Plessis, who have both made their opinion clear and want the toss to be scrapped in order to ensure more competitive match conditions for the game's toughest format.
Gilchrist was recently quoted saying to Back Page Live as, “I think we’re just going through a phase where teams aren’t as good overseas and then it goes in fits and spurts, Another era will turn up and dominate overseas. I just think; do we have to change everything about history?”
“Australia and England on their last tours to India – out of eight (nine) Test matches, six (seven) tosses were won by the touring team and as you do in India you bat first, and they both lost three out of the four games, England went down 4-0 in its five-Test tour."
“Sri Lanka play their home conditions well. We’ve got to not worry about that and sharpen up on better upskilling and go over there and be better in those conditions.”
In May, the ICC cricket committee advised the retention of the coin toss, arguing “it was an integral part of Test cricket which forms part of the narrative of the game.”
(Inputs from foxsports.com.au)
