I thought only the booster would be landing in a landing cradle at the earth launch site. ITS will have landing gear for both Mars and Earth. It will not land in a cradle, but beside the booster on the pad. A crane will lift it over to be put back on the earth booster.
True, but if cradle landing is possible and doable, why shouldn't it be used for the ITS itself? It has the advantage of lower weight on ITS itself, which also means more useful payload.