South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis admits the coin toss should be scrapped after they fell to a crushing 278-run defeat to Sri Lanka in the first Test at Galle.
The Proteas were bowled out for just 73 in their second innings as Suranga Lakmal made it two wins out of two as skipper of Sri Lanka.
“I’m a big fan of taking away the toss,” du Plessis said after the loss. “I think even in South Africa you’ll still prepare the conditions the way you prepare them now, but you just make sure that you bring some balance.
“In home conditions teams will still win the majority of the games, but you still do even it out a little. I think over the last two or three years away-records have definitely gone down, and games are finishing a lot sooner than they used to.”
The Proteas skipper added: “When I started playing Test cricket, 400s and 500s were happening quite regularly.”
South Africa were bowled out for just 73 in the second innings at Galle.
“So I’m not just speaking about subcontinent conditions. In South Africa games hardly reach the end of day four anymore. I think that’s one of the ways you can make sure that balance is a little better.”
There have been calls for scrapping the coin toss in recent times including from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) following which ICC’s Cricket Committee took up the matter for discussion during its meeting in May this year.
The committee, comprising of the likes of Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Andrew Strauss and Mahela Jayawardane, recommended against scrapping the toss calling it “an integral part of Test cricket which forms part of the narrative of the game.”
The committee had “urged members to continue to focus on the delivery of pitches that provide a better balance between bat and ball in line with ICC regulations.”