GEORGE DOBELL IN ANTIGUA: An ambitious declaration, Jack Leach's perseverance and a tireless Ben Stokes summed up the tourist's pursuit of victory on day five
Joe Root has praised the “fantastic” attitude of his England team and described their performance in Antigua as “really pleasing” despite being forced to settle for a draw.
Root, who scored his 24th Test century during the game, was especially gratified by the way in which England fought back from a difficult first hour of the match to put West Indies under pressure on the final afternoon after a positive declaration.
Of the batters, he saved particular praise for Zak Crawley, who made a classy century in the second innings, Jonny Bairstow, who rescued England in the first innings, and Dan Lawrence, who batted selflessly on the final day to help set up the declaration.
And of the bowlers, he described Jack Leach, who bowled 73.4 overs in the match, as “incredible throughout the whole game”.
Dan Lawrence hit a 36-ball 37 to push England towards a declaration (Randy Brooks/Getty Images)
“I'm really proud of the team,” he said. “I thought the attitude throughout the whole week was just fantastic. We threw everything into the game.
“To be in the position we were after that first hour to respond as we have done since makes it a really pleasing performance on what turned out to be a very docile wicket which didn’t offer a huge amount for anyone really. But the way we applied ourselves and went about it was really pleasing and very encouraging going into the rest of the series.
“When things weren't going our way, when it was flat and not much was happening with the ball in hand, that was a really good sign of where we are as a side. We're very buoyant and we created pressure in the field. Over time stuff like that can make a real difference to a team. That attitude is really promising and it's filled me with a huge amount of confidence.
“It'll definitely do a lot of the guys a lot of good. There were runs at the top of the order for Zac Crawley, Johnny Bairstow’s innings and the way Dan Lawrence played today was brilliant. It gave us the opportunity to declare a little bit sooner.
“Jonny, in particular, was magnificent. He's someone who likes to take the limelight and stand up in those situations and he did it again. That’s back-to-back Test hundreds for him. Hopefully, he can keep showing the world what a good batter he is.”
“And you know, Jack Leach was incredible throughout the whole game. It's very difficult for the seamers but they held things together very well under great pressure in that first innings. The guys worked extremely hard. So I think there's a lot of good things to take into next week.”
Root dismissed criticism of his refusal to accept the draw until the final scheduled over of the game.
Carlos Brathwaite, the former West Indies all-rounder, had claimed the decision was in some way disrespectful – a slightly surprising comment from a man who memorably turned the 2016 World T20 final on its head in the final over – and suggested the offer of the handshake should have come earlier.
But Root insisted that having experienced the incredible ending of the Leeds Test in 2019, he had learned never to take anything for granted.
“When you’ve been involved in a game like Headingley you never feel out of it,” Root said. “Especially with some of the players involved.
Ben Stokes bowled 41 overs as he recovers from a side problem continues (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
“They never stopped believing and that’s what we want to encourage in this team. We want to keep believing, keep fighting and show these supporters that have come out to watch that we’re desperate to get some wins under our belt.”
Root also shrugged off criticism of Ben Stokes’ workload. It had been understood, ahead of the game, that Stokes would be used sparingly as a bowler. As it transpired, with Mark Wood injured, he bowled 41 overs and was very much the pick of England’s seamers.
“We were trying to win a Test match and trying to tell Ben Stokes not to bowl was very difficult,” Root said. “He was incredible throughout the whole game.
"We tried to be smart because the one thing that came out of Australia was making sure we had honest conversations. We said we wanted to manage him as best we could throughout the game and he’s probably bowled a bit more than we anticipated – he obviously has - but he has stood up to it very well and I expect him to play a similar sort of role when we get to Barbados.
“Ben is somewhere near his best again, which is always very exciting and very promising.”