In 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) proposed the scrapping of the traditional coin toss in Test cricket matches, citing instances when host nations were criticised for, and sometimes found guilty of, changing the pitch conditions to suit themselves when playing this longest format of the game. The ICC proposed instead that the away (visiting) team should be given the right to choose whether to bat first or field first. The ICC announced that this would be implemented in the 2019 Ashes series between Australia and England, giving Australia (the away team) the comparative advantage to either bat first or field first.