ICC set to debate coin toss, may do away with it ahead of Test Championship

The various debates over revamping Test cricket have raged on for a number of years, with the advent of pink-ball day-night Tests seen as one way to keep fans invested in the longer format of the game.

Now, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is set to debate and take a call over another traditional aspect of the game: the coin toss.

Cricket’s governing body is mulling over scrapping the coin toss altogether for matches contested as a part of the Test Championship, which will commence in 2019 with Australia’s Ashes tour to England.

The reason for doing away with the toss would be to reduce the advantage of the home team, with a growing belief among cricket fans and experts that home boards overly manipulate conditions to the point where there is far too much importance placed on the toss.

“There is serious concern about the current level of home team interference in Test pitch preparation, and more than one committee member believes that the toss should be automatically awarded to the visiting team in each match, although there are some others on the committee who do not share that view,” read briefing notes circulated ahead of the ICC committee meet in Mumbai later this month, according to an ESPNCricinfo report.