ICC panel decides to keep toss in Tests

NEW DELHI: The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Cricket Committee has decided not to abolish the toss before a Test match, in a key issue debated at its two-day meeting in Mumbai that ended on Tuesday.

The panel headed by former India skipper Anil Kumble considered an issue that has been debated by former stalwarts of the game to prevent home teams from preparing pitches that overwhelmingly favour them.

“The Committee discussed whether the toss should be automatically awarded to the visiting team but felt that it was an integral part of Test cricket which forms part of the narrative of the game,” an ICC statement said.

“However, in acknowledging

that the preparation of Test pitches could provide a risk to the competitiveness of the World Test Championship, the panel urged members to continue to focus on pitches that provide a better balance between bat and ball in line with ICC regulations.”

The suggestion over doing away with toss was to let the visiting skipper decide whether to bat

or bowl. A ‘yes’ vote would have meant removing one of the integral aspects of Test cricket since it began in 1877.

Former internationals, including Ricky Ponting and Michael Holding, had favoured doing away with the toss to ensure a more level-playing field as Test cricket gasps for survival with Twenty20 soaring in popularity.

However, it had been acknowledged that there would be opposition to abolishing the toss, especially because the drama around it was a big draw for broadcasters. With the ICC Test Championship to kick off with the 2019 Ashes series between England and Australia, the panel has recommended a points system for the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee to consider.

“Based on the principle of simplicity and every match needing to count, the committee recommended that points should only be awarded for each match and not a series win. As part of this, it was proposed that there was a draw-win ratio of 0.33:1, so a draw gives each team a third of the available points.”

The panel proposed a rest day for the Lord’s final in 2023.

The panel has recommended more stringent punishment for ball-tampering, without giving details. The issue flared up after Australia’s Cameron Bancroft was caught in the act during the Cape Town Test against South Africa in March. The panel has backed creating new rules to punish offensive behaviour and wants a Code of Respect to be put in place.