ECB confirms changes to coin toss for 2016 Championship

The mandatory coin toss is to be scrapped in the County Championship next season, the England and Wales Cricket Board has confirmed. The change will be effective in both divisions and aims to encourage better pitches for four-day cricket.

The recommendation came from the ECB’s cricket committee, which includes ECB chief executive Tom Harrison, England team director Andrew Strauss and former England coach Andy Flower.

An ECB statement read: “The visiting captain will be offered the opportunity of bowling first. If he declines, the toss will take place as normal.

But if he accepts, there will be no toss.” The committee’s chairman, Peter Wright, said that a decision on whether to extend the trial would be taken at the end of the 2016 season.