After his error of judgment in the first Test at Lord's, Brian Lara had no hesitation in choosing to bat first this time, as he won the toss ahead of the third Test at Old Trafford. Torrential overnight rain had jeopardised the day's play, but thanks to some sterling work from the groundstaff, the match will get underway after just an hour's delay. Further showers are forecast for the rest of the day, although at present the skies are as blue as the punters could hope for. After being deprived of Test cricket last year, the Old Trafford faithful are out in droves for this match, most of them hoping to catch their local hero, Andrew Flintoff, in action. Flintoff, who slammed a wonderful 167 in the second Test, has been described by Michael Vaughan as the best player in the world. That may be slightly hyperbolic, but if he can inspire England to a series-clinching victory this week, there won't be many Englishmen who will disagree. England have announced an unchanged side, but West Indies have made wholesale changes. The reserve wicketkeeper, Carlton Baugh, comes in in place of Ridley Jacobs, who has a sore knee; Sylvester Joseph takes over from Devon Smith at the top of the order; the left-arm chinaman bowler, Dave Mohammed, plays in place of Omari Banks, and Fidel Edwards returns to spearhead the attack. England 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss, 3 Robert Key, 4 Michael Vaughan (capt), 5 Graham Thorpe, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Matthew Hoggard, 10 Stephen Harmison, 11 James Anderson. West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Sylvester Joseph, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Brian Lara (capt), 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Carlton Baugh (wk), 8 Dave Mohammed, 9 Pedro Collins, 10 Corey Collymore, 11 Fidel Edwards. SOURCE: CRICINFO.COM