Ben Stokes and company, according to former England captain Michael Vaughan, cannot attend the fifth day of the Edgbaston Test in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy "even thinking about winning."

In order to still lead the series 1-0 going into the third Test at Lord's, he has instructed them to accept that a draw and abandon their front-footed philosophy in favor of trying to bat all day Sunday.

England has never voluntarily accepted a draw while Ben Stokes has been their captain. Their lone one occurred at Old Trafford during a postponed 2023 Ashes match versus Australia. Vice-captain Harry Brook said just Friday that "everyone in the world" understood that England would pursue the goal, no matter what.

India has put them in a situation to reconsider those beliefs by setting 608 to win and reducing them to 72/3 at Stumps.

Vaughan was asked on Test Match Special if England should finally consider a draw as a possibility.

“Well, they have to, they can’t win this game. India completely dominated the Test with brilliant skill, great discipline. It’s exactly what I want to see from England tomorrow. Funnily, this day has been coming where BazBallers can’t arrive on day five and even think about winning. Have they got the ticker, the skillset, and the determination to try and get a draw,” Vaughan said on BBC Test Match Special.

“The next best thing from winning a Test match is getting a draw. If they just kind of give it away and decide, you know, ‘That’s the way that we play. We’re always on the front foot, playing aggressively,’ they’ll get bowled out quickly tomorrow. Have they got the skillset and the mindset to try and bat the full day and get on the bus to Lord’s with a draw? We’ll wait and see,” he added.

Despite their players' claims to the contrary, assistant coach Marcus Trescothick was similarly questioned at the end of the fourth day about whether his team would accept a draw. In addition to saying that the media had given the impression that their players didn't care about draws, he added the team wasn't "stupid" and would be OK with a draw.