WATCH, Sheffield Shield | Embarrased Steve Smith inadvertently executes ugliest coin toss possible

A host of Australian Test regulars returned to the domestic setup on Monday for round four of the Sheffield Shield, the encounter set to be their final hurrah before the Ashes begin in Perth in less than two weeks' time. The biggest benefactors of the influx of international talent were New South Wales given they saw rare appearances from frontline bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, with Nathan Lyon as the specialist spinner and Steve Smith taking over captaincy from usual skipper Jack Edwards. While eyes around the globe tuned in to get one final read of how the likely protagonists of the upcoming potentially era-defining series are shaping up, perhaps none did worse than Smith himself as his quest to stand-in for Pat Cummins at the Perth Stadium began embarrassingly even though the veteran not even getting to bat on Day 1.

Smith walked out to the middle in Sydney with Victorian counterpart Will Sutherland and match referee Dave Gilbert alongside. Wearing his state blazer, Smith had the coin in hand as the host skipper, and upon signal confidently gave his right hand a flourish to launch it in the air. However, to his shame, the coin slipped out of his hand before it could take flight and instead tumbled along to the ground while everyone present stood perplexed. Nevertheless, Gilbert adjudicated that the coin had taken enough rolls for the toss to be deemed fair and Sutherland was not one to complain given the lottery had gone in his favour. Smith initially had a hand raised in inquiry before eventually bringing it down for a handshake with his rival, the two sharing laughs while Gilbert also could not hold back a chuckle.

Victoria managed to go past 300 after opting to bat first on the back of another Peter Handscomb ton, even as Starc scalped four for the Blues.