Surprised England went on for as long as they did in Antigua: Jason Holder

The first Test between England and West Indies ended in a draw and Joe Root has received some flak for allowing the match to go into the last over on Day Five, before shaking hands.

England decided to agree to a draw with five balls remaining with West Indies having six wickets up their sleeve. Carlos Brathwaite had termed England's approach disrespectful, which is something Jason Holder agrees with.

"I thought they went on way too long," Holder told Sportsmail. 

"I know what Carlos said and it would be wrong to say I disagree. When we went into the last hour I told Nkrumah Bonner that if we batted for five more overs they would probably call it. So I was really surprised they went on."

However, Holder sees some positives in England's tactics, which could play into West Indies' hands. "In a sense, I didn't mind because it gave the English team more overs in their legs," said Holder.

"Stokesey [Ben Stokes] was running in and putting in a really big effort. I look at the positives in any situation and the positive for me was that the English lads were on their feet and had to bowl a lot longer. They had to toil a lot longer.

"It would be good if we could put them back in the field for that length of time again now. 

"They fielded for more than 150 overs in the first innings and then they stretched it longer than I thought they would in the second."

In the end, Holder conceded that Root was entitled to do what he eventually did. "With what has happened to English cricket over the last few weeks it was not a surprise they would give themselves their best chance of winning it. Joe was within his rights," the former West Indies skipper said.

Root was surprised at the comments directed at him and insisted that if the situation arose, he would do the same again. "I didn't consider shaking hands before we did," said Root. 

"I've seen the comments and I think it's slightly unfair to say that.  I have a huge amount of respect for every team we play against and we want to give ourselves every opportunity to win the game.

"I think Carlos said we wouldn't have done the same thing against Australia? Well, we did do that against Australia at Lord's. 

"It was also a chance for us to open up wounds for the rest of the series and in this instance, it was an opportunity for Jack Leach to try to get four or five wickets. I don't think there was anything wrong with our approach at all."

After a stalemate in Antigua, England and West Indies will lock horns again in the second Test in Barbados, starting today (March 16).