YORKSHIRE captain Andrew Gale has blasted the England and Wales Cricket Board's decision to remove the mandatory toss in both divisions of next year's LV= County Championship.

The move is designed to help produce more international quality spinners and better pitches.

The visiting skipper will be given the option of bowling first in matches. If he says yes, there will be no toss. But if he decides against it, there will be a toss.

It will be brought in on a one-year trial and reviewed next autumn.

Gale took to Twitter to voice his displeasure at the decision, saying: "So no coin toss next year if away team doesn't want it?! absolute madness.

"If the pitches are bad, why have no points been deducted in past few seasons??"

The proposal came from the ECB's nine-man Cricket Committee including Andrew Strauss and Kent captain Rob Key, and it was ratified at a full Board meeting this week.

Peter Wright, the Cricket Committee's chairman, said: "There has been concern for some years about some Championship pitches. But it is fair to say that the plight of spin bowling in this country brought things into focus.

"Figures showing that spinners bowled only 21.5% of the overs in the 2015 Championship were presented to the committee, and we have come to the conclusion that the only way to bring spin bowlers more into the game is to provide better pitches for them to bowl on.

"Of course counties want to win matches, and that generally means taking 20 wickets.

"That has to be a reason we have seen a lot of pitches that start a bit green and damp, and get better as the game goes on, rather than deteriorating to help the spinners.

"But another main function of the County Championship is to develop players for England. We don't think it has been serving that purpose for spinners.

"By giving the away team the option of bowling first, we hope the home side will be encouraged to produce the best possible four-day pitch.

"That will be good for cricket in general, and not only for spinners.

"Batsmen should also benefit from better pitches, which will lead to them facing more spin bowling. And if pitches start drier, the ball may scuff up a bit more and produce more reverse swing."

Gale's Yorkshire team-mate Jack Brooks, who also disagrees with the decision, responded to his skipper's comments by tweeting: "You rarely win a toss anyway!"