Team manager takes charge at the toss

"Because of heavy traffic, we were all very late arriving at the ground for the match. Our Team manager and only 5 players arrived. The players went to get changed and the manager gave the team sheet to the umpires and tossed up. Is he allowed to do this?"


The change to Law 1 in October 2010 prevents your manager deputising for the captain, the umpires should have gone to the dressing room and insisted that a member of the nominated team is present at the toss.

Unless League or competition rules say otherwise, the Laws state that, at the latest, the toss must take place fifteen minutes before the scheduled start of play, and after the nominated team list has been given to the umpires by the captain or his deputy. The Laws now state that any deputy for the captain must be a nominated player, that is, his name must appear on the team sheet.

After the toss, any further decisions can only be made by a member of the nominated team, so I hope your Team manager didn't try to decide whether your side should bat or bowl!




Read more about Law 1 (The players) and Law 12 (The innings) at the MCC website