The call was answered with two lively, grassy wickets in the next two Tests, which Australia could not counter; they were bowled out for 136 in the first innings at Edgbaston and then 60 in Nottingham to relinquish the Ashes. Should they be unsure about the conditions, a toss can still take place. The move would, however, end a tradition that dates back to the first laws of the sport, drawn up in the 1740s.
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The traditional coin toss could be a thing of the past in English county cricket if an European Central Bank proposal is approved.
The change, passed at the ECB’s management board meeting yesterday, will be introduced on a trial basis in both divisions, as an attempt to improve the quality of pitches in domestic cricket and encourage more spin bowling. Any experiment would be carefully monitored in other countries before consideration was given to extending it to other competitions.
Bell-Drummond, whose county remain in the second division, made a century against the touring Australians last summer – only to find himself on an awkward pitch in his next Championship match.
That shortfall has been especially evident during England’s tour of the UAE, where Moeen Ali, their first-choice slow bowler, took only nine wickets in the three Tests at an average of nearly 49, while Yorkshire leg-spinner Adil Rashid managed only eight wickets at almost 70 apiece. “There has been concern for some years about some Championship pitches. We need to do more to encourage spin bowling”.
It is also hoped the move will enable spinners to play a bigger part in four-day cricket. “That is understandable, but it does not help in the long run”, he wrote.
“It does not benefit the batters either because you do not face those kinds of bowlers at Test level”.
In 2015 only 21.5 per cent of overs in the championship were bowled by spinners and in the home matches of two Division Two counties the figure was lower than 10 per cent.
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“But another main function of the County Championship is to develop players for England”.
