Winning the toss gives a choice: bat first or field first.

The MCC baseline used here

This page applies the Marylebone Cricket Club Laws of Cricket 2017 Code, 3rd Edition (2022), effective from 1 October 2022. MCC is the guardian of the Laws; a national board, league, school or tournament may appoint playing conditions that replace or supplement this pre-match procedure.

Version transition: as checked on 26 August 2026, MCC has published the 4th Edition but says it comes into force on 1 October 2026. Its Laws 13.4–13.5 retain the same toss window, location, coin-toss requirement and final-notification rule. Until then, the 2022 edition remains the baseline used for the rulings below.

The winner controls only the first innings choice

MCC Law 13.4 describes the toss as being “for the choice of innings.” Law 13.5 turns that into two options: bat or field. Choosing to field means the opposition bats first; “we will bowl” is ordinary cricket shorthand for that same field-first choice.

The toss does not award runs, wickets or a match result, and it does not let a captain redesign the agreed match format. Law 13.1 says whether the match has one or two innings per side, and whether innings are limited by overs or time, is settled by the applicable agreement or playing conditions.

Players are nominated before the toss

Under MCC Law 1.2.1, each captain must nominate the side's players in writing to one umpire before the toss. This ordering matters: the coin toss is not meant to be used first and the team then selected to suit the result.

If the captain is unavailable for nomination, Law 1.3.2 allows any person associated with the team to act as deputy for that task. Once the players have been nominated, however, Law 1.3.3 narrows the rule: only a nominated player may act as the captain's deputy for duties under the Laws, including the toss.

Use the 30-to-15-minute window

MCC Law 13.4 requires the toss to take place on the field of play, with one or both umpires present, no earlier than 30 minutes and no later than 15 minutes before play is due to start. For a 2.00 pm start, the Law's window is therefore 1.30 pm through 1.45 pm.

If officials reschedule the start before the toss—for example, to 3.00 pm after a weather inspection—the operative window moves to 2.30 pm through 2.45 pm. The words “scheduled or any rescheduled time” prevent the original timetable being used after a new start time has been fixed.

MCC does not prescribe who calls

The Laws require the captains to toss a coin. They do not say which captain must throw it, which captain calls, which coin face must be called, or whose coin is used. Those details may be supplied by the appointed competition procedure or administered fairly by the officials.

The mandatory wording does matter: under the unmodified MCC baseline, captains cannot replace the coin with a tactical agreement simply because both would prefer another method. A competition that intentionally removes or changes the toss must do so in its own playing conditions.

Notification, not the coin landing, fixes the choice

Winning the coin toss creates the right to choose. MCC Law 13.5 then requires the winning captain to decide as soon as the toss is completed and notify the opposing captain and the umpires. Law 2.14 adds a practical detail: when the Laws require information to be given to the umpires, telling one umpire is sufficient if that umpire informs the other.

Once the bat-or-field decision has been notified, Law 13.5 says it cannot be changed. Later rain, a revised start time, a surprising pitch report or a team tactical rethink does not reopen the choice. Before notification, the captain still has to make the decision promptly; the Law does not grant a waiting period to study changing conditions.

How to check whether the procedure is complete

1. Identify the appointed rules. Start with the competition's playing conditions, then use the MCC Laws where they are not modified.
2. Check nomination. Under the MCC baseline, both sides' players must be nominated in writing before the toss.
3. Check authority. Each side is represented by its captain or, after nomination, by a deputy who is a nominated player.
4. Fix the start time. Use the latest scheduled or rescheduled start known when the toss is to be conducted.
5. Check place and supervision. Apply MCC's field-of-play and umpire-presence requirements, or the competition's express variation.
6. Resolve the coin toss. The winner receives the choice; neither side is automatically assigned to bat.
7. Record notification. Bat or field must be conveyed to the opposition captain and the umpires. From that point it is final.

Law 13 gives no automatic penalty for a defective toss

Laws 13.4–13.5 state what must happen, but they do not prescribe a five-run penalty, forfeiture, automatic choice for the opponent or a universal re-toss when the timing, location or notification procedure is mishandled. It would therefore be unsafe to invent one as an MCC ruling.

Before play, the umpires and competition officials should apply the appointed playing conditions and resolve any dispute through the match's administration. MCC Law 2.11 makes the umpires' joint decision final where there is a disagreement or dispute under the Laws, but a professional competition may also assign pre-match responsibilities to a match referee.

The toss does not freeze every later innings

In a two-innings match, MCC Law 13.2 ordinarily makes the sides bat alternately. The toss establishes which side takes the first innings, but later order can be altered by the follow-on under Law 14 or by an innings forfeiture under Law 15.2.

That distinction prevents two common errors: a follow-on is not a second toss, and choosing to field first does not give the winner a free choice before every subsequent innings.

International administration can name a different official

The ICC Men's Test Match Playing Conditions, effective June 2025, retain the same 30-to-15-minute window, field-of-play requirement and final bat-or-field decision in clauses 13.4–13.5. The administrative detail differs: the coin toss is under the supervision of the ICC Match Referee, rather than MCC's wording requiring one or both umpires to be present.

ICC Test clause 1.2.1 also requires the captain to nominate 11 players and up to six substitute fielders in writing to the Match Referee before the toss. This is a Test-specific example, not a statement that every ICC, domestic or junior competition uses the same team-list procedure.

A delayed start moves the toss window

Situation: before any toss is held, rain causes officials to reschedule an 11.00 am start to 1.00 pm. The captains are ready at noon.

MCC 2022 ruling: noon is too early. Law 13.4 measures from the rescheduled start, so the permitted window is 12.30 pm to 12.45 pm. The decisive fact is that 1.00 pm had become the start time before the toss.

Weather changes after the choice

Situation: Green wins, tells the opposing captain and an umpire that Green will bat, and then sees dark cloud arrive before play.

MCC 2022 ruling: Green must bat first. Laws 13.5 and 2.14 make the notified choice final; notification to one umpire is sufficient when that umpire informs the other. The weather change does not create a right to switch.

A team manager cannot take the toss after nomination

Situation: the captain is absent. A team manager validly submits the written player nomination, but then proposes to represent the side at the coin toss.

MCC 2022 ruling: the manager could act for nomination under Law 1.3.2, but cannot take the toss after nomination unless the manager is also a nominated player. Law 1.3.3 requires a post-nomination deputy performing the captain's Laws duties to be nominated.

An ICC Test uses the Match Referee

Situation: the captains are on the field 20 minutes before a men's Test is due to start, and the ICC Match Referee supervises the coin toss.

ICC Men's Test, June 2025 ruling: the procedure satisfies clause 13.4's timing and supervision requirements. The fact that MCC Law 13.4 instead mentions the presence of an umpire does not override the competition's express playing condition.

Claims the Laws do not support

• “The toss winner bats first.” The winner chooses to bat or field.
• “The toss decides every innings.” It fixes the first innings; alternation, follow-on and forfeiture govern later order.
• “The captain can change the call until the first ball.” The choice is final on notification, not when play begins.
• “A substitute or coach can always stand in.” After nomination, the captain's deputy at the toss must be a nominated player under the MCC baseline.
• “Every competition uses an umpire at the coin.” ICC Men's Tests expressly use Match Referee supervision.
• “Law 13 specifies who calls heads or tails.” It does not; appointed procedure fills that administrative detail.

Governing-body sources and effective versions

• MCC — Laws of Cricket 2017 Code, 3rd Edition (2022), Law 13: Innings, especially 13.1–13.5
• MCC — Laws of Cricket 2017 Code, 3rd Edition (2022), Law 1.2–1.3: nomination, captain and deputy
• MCC — Laws of Cricket 2017 Code, 3rd Edition (2022), Laws 2.11 and 2.14: disputes and informing umpires
• MCC — official Laws editions and downloads
• MCC — notice that the 4th Edition takes effect on 1 October 2026
• MCC — Laws of Cricket 2017 Code, 4th Edition (2026), future Laws 13.4–13.5
• ICC — Men's Test Match Playing Conditions, effective June 2025, clauses 1.2–1.3 and 13.4–13.5

Checked on 26 August 2026 against the effective MCC 2022 Laws, MCC's published 2026 edition and implementation notice, and the current ICC Men's Test document listed above. The MCC 4th Edition takes effect on 1 October 2026 and retains this page's core toss ruling. Competition, domestic and junior playing conditions may change the officials, nomination procedure or toss itself; use the conditions appointed for the match.