WI vs ENG: Carlos Brathwaite Feels England Were Disrespectful To West Indies In The Last Hour

Former West Indies T20I skipper Carlos Brathwaite found England a bit disrespectful at the conclusion of the first Test against West Indies at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Saturday.

The match ended in a draw after the hosts were successful in surviving the final session of Day 5 against the England bowlers.

WI vs ENG: Jason Holder, Nkrumah Bonner force draw against England

Despite losing four wickets for nine runs at one stage, senior West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder (37*) and Nkrumah Bonner were at the task of salvaging a draw for their team. The pair stitched 80 runs for the fifth wicket and batted for more than 35 overs to ensure the visitors didn’t cause any damage to their batting order.

England gave up the hopes after Jack Leach bowled the first ball of the 71st over and players from both teams were seen shaking hands with each other.

I would have found it a bit disrespectful that in the last hour: Carlos Brathwaite

Brathwaite, who has played three Test matches for West Indies, is of the opinion that England should have shaken the hands earlier when mathematically they couldn’t have dismissed the hosts. The 33-year-old West Indies all-rounder said England wouldn’t have done a similar thing against other opponents like Australia, India, Pakistan or New Zealand.

“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,” Brathwaite said on BT Sport.

“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,” he added. 

The second Test between West Indies and England will be played at the Kensington Oval in Barbados, the match starts on March 16.

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