One of the oldest traditions in organized sport appears right at the top of cricket’s rule book from 1744: “The pitching the first wicket is to be determined by the toss of a piece of money.”
So was born the pregame coin toss.
But time moves on, though in cricket often slowly. After 272 years, English County Cricket will do away with the coin toss in many games starting next season.
Coins are tossed in lots of sports, though the result is not usually crucial. In football, for example, the advantage of winning the pregame toss and getting the ball first is mostly negated by the loser of the toss getting the ball to start the second half.