ICC to scrap coin toss in Test cricket?
What's the story
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has been trying its best to keep the Test cricket alive.
Now they are mulling over abandoning the coin toss in the upcoming Test Championship.
The body will debate over the possibility of scraping the coin toss and instead giving the visiting side an option to decide if they want to bat or bowl first.
Major change?
No more head or tails in Test cricket?
The ICC has already tried out pink ball Tests. Notably, these Day/Night Tests are now gaining popularity.
The latest suggestion is to make the 5-day format exciting for the fans.
The reason ICC wants to do away with the toss is to reduce the home team's advantage, since the domestic boards can manipulate the conditions keeping their teams in mind.
Quote
No more home advantage
"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, " the ICC's briefing notes read.
Tried and tested
Visiting captain to be given the power to decide
The ICC first experimented with the rule in the 2016 English County Championship.
However, it did not do away with the toss completely but instead it made it optional.
The visiting captain is given the option of bowling first and if accepted there is no toss.
The rule change turned out to be fruitful and the ICC is now considering it for international cricket.
Promising results
Age old tradition to be scrapped by ICC?
According to the ECB, 85% of matches went till day four after the rule change.
In 2015, only 74% of the matches went till day four and that was the highest since 2009.
However, 71 of the 142 matches were drawn as compared to 93 wins and 51 draws in 2015.
Test Championship will commence in 2019 with Ashes where Australia will tour England.