Forum: sports.stackexchange.com
Tags: <cricket>
Title: In cricket, how is it decided from which end to start the match?
Question: In cricket, how is it decided from which end to start the match? Is this a per-ground convention, a decision of the umpires, or either of the captains? Is each innings necessarily started from the same end?

Answers:
sents: text: The fielding captain decides from which end he wants to start the match and informs the batsmen who then decides who will face the first ball.
text: Usually this is decided by the preference of the bowler who is going to bowl the first over.
answer_details: author: sports.stackexchange.com/users/195/rest_day
score: 20
sents: text: There is nothing in the laws to govern this point.
text: Most competitions have local rules to cover points where the laws aren't always clear (e.g. number of overs, time limits and so on).
text: So they might wish to define the starting end (or - by induction - the finishing end of a limited overs game): if so, those responsible for the rules of that competition may wish to prescribe.
text: (Note that in most indoor versions of the game, playing in moderately large gymnasia, all the bowling is done from one end, with the batsmen changing ends at the completion of each over).
text: Certainly in practice the fielding captain will nominate his bowler.
text: Regular bowlers familiar with a ground will usually have a preferred end from which they wish to deliver, and it would be wrong for the laws to override the captain's wishes without good reason.
text: Similarly some batting openers like to take the first ball and will switch over if the senior man has a preference.
text: Certainly the laws are silent on what should happen in a dispute.
text: Suppose the fielding captain wants Bowler A to bowl the first ball to Batsman Z, but batsman Y wants to face him.
text: Law 42.2 states that the umpires are sole judges of fair and unfair play, so they would intervene if they felt that either side was trying to manipulate a particular striker to face (or not face) the first ball.
text: Reading between the lines of the law, the batsmen's wishes will have precedence, because if they have selected ends, the fielding side would be guilty of time wasting if they then decided to change the identity of the bowler (see Laws 42.9 fielding side & 42.10 - batsmen wasting time) or the end from which he bowled.
text: In such a situation most umpires would tell the fielding captain to get on with it.
text: The batsmen have the thinner end of this particular wedge, because the fielding captain can always switch his bowling around in a manner which he decides will best irritate and perplex them.
text: In practice the one of the opening pair who plans on taking the first ball will check with the umpires/fielding captain who is bowling and from which end; a refusal to disclose is pretty much unheard of.
answer_details: author: sports.stackexchange.com/users/92/Unsliced
score: 9
sents: text: I am by no means a cricket expert, but this page seems to suggest that the bowler determines the bowling end based on his technique, preference and variations of an individual pitch.
text: Depending upon the variations in pitch the bowler chooses his end.
text: Since the team who bowls first is determined by the captain who wins the coin toss , it seems that there could conceivably be a considerable a strategic advantage to winning the coin toss, choosing to bat second and allowing your bowler to choose his end.
answer_details: author: sports.stackexchange.com/users/14/Marcus Swope
score: 4
sents: text: There are no set rules on this.
text: This is how it happens in the real world.
text: Fielding captain obviously decides which two bowlers start the proceedings.
text: He then chats with the two bowlers and asks them their preference.
text: The senior bowler or the bowler who starts first (in some cases) will get their choice first.
text: There is rarely a conflict as usually bowlers are able to compromise quickly if there is a disagreement.
answer_details: author: sports.stackexchange.com/users/235/ZVenue
score: 2
sents: text: The fielding captain or the bowler who balls the 1st over of the match decides it.
text: The factor mostly considered are wind direction.
text: The umpires do not explicitly say anything about the end which the game play starts.
text: There is no rule also based about it.
text: Maybe the people who wrote the rule book might have thought this as a Minor part of the Game.
answer_details: author: sports.stackexchange.com/users/336/Rohit Vipin Mathews
score: 2
sents: text: Quoting Bill Frindall, aka the Bearded Wonder from this BBC article .
text: At the start of each innings of a match the fielding captain decides from which end play will begin.
text: He usually makes this choice in collaboration with his opening bowlers.
text: When they have decided their individual preference of ends, the captain then decides which bowler he wants to open with and that will determine his choice of end.
text: So, preference of opening bowlers will help the fielding captain determine from which end play will begin.
answer_details: author: sports.stackexchange.com/users/13485/Ram Chandra Giri
score: 1
sents: text: It is decided by fielding side captain and the bowler himself.
text: Few key points which come into the consideration while a bowler chooses an end are:-
text: The flow of wind:- which helps a swing bowler.
text: He chooses whether he wants to bowl with the wind or against it.
text: Both helps in the movement of the ball a lot.
text: Longest side of the field:-
text: normally we see this when a spinner starts the attack.
text: The fielding side captain usually opt for longest side boundary to be on the leg side of a right-handed batsman.
text: Amount of grass on the pitch:-
text: Sometimes, the grass covering on a pitch varies from one end to another.
text: In this case, the fast-bowler chooses the end with grass covering to begin the attack(I am considering that the best bowler of the team will ball the first over).
text: Superstition:- Few bowlers are there who are superstitious, they choose an end which is away from pavilion or some any other mark.
text: more form icc world cup :-
answer_details: author: sports.stackexchange.com/users/15269/Priya Verma
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
At the start of each innings of a match the fielding captain decides from which end play will begin.  He usually makes this choice in collaboration with his opening bowlers. The senior bowler or the bowler who starts first (in some cases) will get their choice first. 
The decision from which end to start the match usually lies wit the fielding captain, who usually confers with the first or most senior bowler on the matter. There are no specific regulations on this issue, even for disputes, which however are rare. Local rules may apply. One of the parameters considered is the direction of the wind. Less relevant factors include the longest field side, the amount of grass or superstitions.