Graeme Welch has welcomed the England & Wales Cricket Board’s decision to trial a change to the pre-match coin toss in the County Championship in 2016.
On the first morning of all fixtures in both divisions next season, before the toss, 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 reason behind the ECB’s decision is to encourage counties to provide better pitches for four-day cricket and Elite Performance Director Welch is in full support of the idea.
“I think it’s a good rule to bring in. We are here to produce England cricketers and to play on the best pitches possible,” said Welch.
“There are a lot of teams trying to get out of the second division and I believe that if you play on the best wicket then the best team will win.
“People who come to Derby think the ball moves all over the place but actually it’s the overhead conditions that do that. Last year we tried to take a little bit of grass off the pitch to make it a little bit more even between bat and ball and it seemed to work.
“Hopefully more games will go into Day Four which will bring a natural deterioration to the pitch, that will bring spinners into the game and it will give everybody a level playing field.
“If the pitches are going to be better there won’t be as many wins. When I was in Division One with Warwickshire the pitches were Test match quality and you had to try and stay in the game. When the opportunity arises you have to take advantage of it, which is what we need to do next season.
“It will teach us to play better cricket and more attritional cricket, and that can only be good for both county cricket and the International game.”
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