We're not stupid enough to think that you've to just win or lose: Trescothick

 

England need 488 more runs on the final day of the Test with seven wickets in hand

England's assistant coach Marcus Trescothick asserted that his team wasn't naive enough to rule out a draw as an option going into the final day of the Edgbaston Test. England have vocalised their intentions to go after any target in the fourth innings in this Stokes-McCullum era, but may have to settle for only their second home draw in this period, given the equation.

They need 536 more runs on the final day of the Test with seven wickets in hand, a steep ask despite conditions remaining favourable for batting. The average scoring rate over the first three innings has been a very healthy 4.39, but given that England will need to score close to six an over for an entire day, they will simply need to adapt.

"We all probably appreciate that it's a hell of a lot of runs to try and score. It's 550 [536] tomorrow, and I don't think we've seen scoring rates quite that quick in a day, so of course it will be challenging. But we've probably got another 10 to 15 overs of the balls at the hardest point before it gets a little bit soft, and then we'll see how we're going from that point, really.

"Whenever the situation is changing, of course, it [the draw] is [a good result]. When you get to the point that you can only draw the game, of course. We're not stupid enough to think that you have to just win or lose. There are three possible results in every game that you play. But we have done some things in our time that are different from what we've done before," Trescothick said.

There is some forecast for rain on Sunday, a potential ally should England decide to hunker down, but the former England opener doesn't believe shutting shop will be an option universally adopted by the remainder of the batters to come. "I don't think we use that sort of language," he said. "It's not the sort of changing room that we are. We're not naive enough to know (sic) that it's a very challenging total... Do you just go into your bunker and just sort of dig it out? Some players may do that.

"You just don't know really, and it's up to individuals who can adapt to the game and understand what's happening. But you've got to understand our changing room is a different type of culture in terms of what we've done in the past."

Meanwhile, India's bowling coach Morne Morkel admitted that batting was still easy on this Edgbaston pitch going into the fifth day and England's usual approach would make for a very interesting contest, especially during the middle overs when this batch of Dukes balls go soft and offer no bite off the wicket. "It's definitely going to be an exciting day of cricket. Harry [Brook] did say last night in the media that they're going to chase or go after everything or anything that we set for them.

"They're attacking players. That's their brand of cricket they want to play. They probably might have a go at it for a while and then reassess, but I think we are in for an exciting day of cricket. It's still fast-scoring, the wicket is still playing nicely, so let's see what tomorrow brings."