In the sport of cricket, a coin is tossed to determine which team
bats first. This is known as the toss.
Before play begins, the captain of each side will inspect the pitch. Based on
the pitch and weather conditions, the captains select their final eleven
players. If the pitch is soft or dusty, the captain will tend to select more
spin bowlers; if the pitch is hard, the choice tends to favour fast bowlers at
the expense of spinners.
Half an hour before the start of play, the two captains convene and exchange
team selection sheets. These list the composition of each side, which cannot be
changed for the duration of the match. Then, under the supervision of the
umpires, a coin is tossed to determine who bats first. The tossing of the coin
marks the official beginning of the match. If the match is abandoned at any time
after the toss, it stands as a match played and enters official statistical
records. If a match is abandoned before the toss, it is not considered to have
been played at all, and does not count for records. [1]
The captain who wins the toss gets the option either to bat or bowl. The
decision to bat or bowl first is of great tactical importance, and the captain
will have considered many variables before arriving at his decision. Because of
the different natures of the games, it is considerably more common to bat second
in one-day cricket than it is in first-class cricket.
Batting
first
If the team is uncertain about the nature of the pitch or simply wants to
play safe, they bat first. If the opposition bowling is strong, batting first is
a good option. Sometimes, the nature of the pitch deteriorates (i.e. makes
batting difficult) as the game progresses. Hence batting first is a better
option. Another advantage of batting first is that once you have got a total on
board; the other team still has to chase it, and anything could happen once they
chase. Most of the weaker teams achieved great upsets over fancied teams by
batting first and bowling the opposition out.
However, the captain of a team that bats first and is scoring well in a
first-class game may face a difficult decision as to when to declare. A captain
who declares early risks being overtaken by the team batting second; a captain
who declares late risks leaving his team with insufficient time to dismiss the
other team, so suffering a draw despite having a high score. The team batting
second rarely has to face this choice, although it may arise when they score
exceptionally well in their first innings.
Batting second
The captain opts to bat second if he is confident that his team can
successfully chase any total. Once the target is known, the team does not have
to worry about setting a winnable score. The team just has to limit the
opposition to a low score, and bat well to successfully chase the target. If the
pitch does not deteriorate, batting second is usually a better option. Another
advantage of batting second is during day-night one-day international games,
played under lights. In tropical venues, the cricket ball collects a lot of dew
in the outfield. This results in a poor grip on the ball by the bowlers. With a
moist ball it is difficult to spin and swing the ball.
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