Carlos Brathwaite: "West Indies should be thinking 'we have two Tests now to prove we are better than England think we are',"; the second Test between West Indies and England gets under way on Wednesday in Barbados
Sunday 13 March 2022 11:33, UK
Carlos Brathwaite believes England’s refusal to shake hands on an early draw in the first Test should give West Indies extra incentive to go on and win the series.
Joe Root's side pressed on until the first ball of the final scheduled over in Antigua, when victory became mathematically impossible - but it had long been apparent that their hopes would be thwarted by fifth-wicket pair Nkrumah Bonner and Jason Holder.
The duo batted together throughout the final session and were rarely troubled on a lifeless pitch as they guided West Indies to safety at 147-4.
West Indies all-rounder Brathwaite told BT Sport: "If I were a senior player in the West Indies dressing room, I would have found it a bit disrespectful that in the last hour, with two set batsmen playing as they were and the pitch offering nothing, England still felt they could get six wickets, going all the way down to five balls left.
"Would England have done that if it were an Ashes Test? Would they have done that against India, New Zealand, Pakistan?
"I think the answer is no, so why have they done it against us?
"If West Indies need any sort of steely determination added, I think that passage of play should have given them that. They should be thinking 'we have two Tests now to prove we are better than England think we are'."
Root's declaration just before lunch on the final day set the home side a target of 286 and, despite an opening stand of 59, they then lost four wickets for just eight runs.
However, first-innings centurion Bonner batted almost three hours for his unbeaten 38, with Holder alongside him on 37 not out when stumps were finally drawn.
Former England batter Mark Ramprakash agreed that Root should have pulled out sooner.
"I found it a bit strange," said Ramprakash.
"Maybe it's a mentality they have thought about and set for the tour - that they want to be hardnosed and play to win. But I think they took it a bit too far, personally."
Speaking after the game, England captain Root said: "When you've been involved in a game like [the Headingley Ashes Test in 2019] you never feel out of it. Especially with some of the players involved, you never stop believing.
"That's what we want to encourage the team to do - keep believing, keep fighting, keep showing that we want to win games of cricket.
"The supporters have come out to watch us and we are desperate to get some wins under our belt. We'll keep throwing everything into each and every game like we did this week."
The second Test in the three-match series gets under way in Barbados on Wednesday, with the final game taking place in Grenada from March 24.
