Toss (cricket)

In the sport of cricket, a coin is tossed to determine which team bats first. This is known as the toss.

Before play begins, the captain of each side will inspect the pitch. Based on the pitch and weather conditions, the captains select their final eleven players. If the pitch is soft or dusty, the captain will tend to select more spin bowlers; if the pitch is hard, the choice tends to favour fast bowlers at the expense of spinners.

Half an hour before the start of play, the two captains convene and exchange team selection sheets. These list the composition of each side, which cannot be changed for the duration of the match. Then, with the supervision of the umpires, a coin is tossed to determine who bats first. The umpire's call of play marks the official beginning of the match. If the match is abandoned at any time after the toss, it stands as a match played and enters official statistical records. If a match is abandoned before the toss, it is not considered to have been played at all, and does not count for records.

The captain who wins the toss must choose whether to bat or field. The decision is of great tactical importance, and the captain will have considered many variables before arriving at his decision. Because of the different natures of the games, it is considerably more common to choose to bat second in one-day cricket than it is in Test cricket.

From 2016 in the England County Championship there will be no mandatory toss, with the away side having the choice if they wish to field first. If the away side declines to field first, the toss will still take place.

If the team is uncertain about the nature of the pitch or simply wants to play safe, they often bat first. If the opposition bowling is strong batting first is often considered a good option. Sometimes the nature of the pitch deteriorates while the game progresses, making batting more difficult especially if facing spin bowling. Another advantage of batting first is that the batting team sets a target for the team batting second to chase. This can create pressure on the teams batsmen and cause problems for the team batting second.

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