"I'm not going to the casino" - Pat Cummins after losing his 4th straight toss in the 2023 Ashes 

Australia skipper Pat Cummins called the wrong side of the coin yet again in the ongoing Ashes series to mark his fourth straight loss on the tossing side. England skipper Ben Stokes opted to bowl first in a must-win game at Old Trafford, Manchester on Wednesday.

It is to be noted that Cummins lost the toss during the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India last month as well. He last won the toss during the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in February.

Teams have often brought in a proxy captain at the coin toss to change their fortunes. It is potentially a route that Australia will consider for the final Test, more so if they lose the fourth Test.

Cummins stated that he will not even consider going to the casino based on his current luck.

"I am not going to the casino. We would’ve bowled first too but not a bad toss to lose, looks like a good wicket. The game is played at quite a quick pace here. We’ve got two all-rounders and Travis Head, gives us a lot of options," he said during the toss.

'There’s always a bit of risk, we’ve gone for a slightly different lineup than usual. We absolutely want to win this, we want to win the series and the guys are here to win this. We all had a great break, some of the guys went to different places in Europe," Cummins continued.

Australia announced their playing XI beforehand itself and for the first time in 11 years, their unit does not comprise a frontline spinner. Cameron Green replaced Todd Murphy after recovering from injury while Josh Hazlewood replaced Scott Boland in a straight swap in the pace-bowling department.

---

"We’ll have to adapt" - Ben Stokes on England's attempt to oust Pat Cummins and co. at Old Trafford

Ben Stokes had no hesitation over his decision despite no team having ever won at the venue while opting to bowl first.

The hosts remained alive in the series with a close win in the third Test at Headingley, Leeds, and are hoping to stretch the series into the final Test at The Oval to script history.

Stokes said after winning the toss yet again:

"The clarity helps, we had the same mindset in the last game. Spoke about the weather quite a bit last week but doesn’t look too bad today. We’ll have to adapt. If the game gets to a point where we need to push things on we’ll be able to do that, that’s how we play naturally."

Regarding the decision to recall James Anderson back into the playing XI, Stokes stated:

"Anderson has been an unbelievable performer. He offers a lot in terms of control, no issues whatsoever with him. Moeen can have an impact on the game batting at three. He’s more than capable of playing there, takes nothing away from Brook."

David Warner has kickstarted the contest with a boundary through the offside against Stuart Broad. Australia are placed at 6-0 at the end of the first over.