MasterstrokeMatch play and rules
Toss
The coin toss before every match, where the winning captain chooses to bat or bowl first based on the pitch, the weather and the format.
The toss is the coin flip before play in which the winning captain chooses whether to bat or bowl first.
In a Test the decision is mostly about the pitch. A dry surface that will crumble by day four says bat first and bowl last; a green, damp one under cloud says bowl and use the movement while it lasts. In white-ball cricket the choice is more about the chase. Many captains prefer to bowl first so their batters know the target, and evening dew, which makes the ball hard to grip, can turn that preference into a rule. In a day-night Test, the tricky twilight session complicates it again.
Winning the toss is luck; using it well is not. Data from most venues shows a clear bias one way or the other, and a good manager knows the ground's history before the coin goes up.
In Masterstroke: matches play out in conditions the ground and the date decide, so the right call at the toss changes from venue to venue and from March to October.