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England’s draw against West Indies in the first Test is a “huge step forward” after a “difficult year”, says captain Joe Root.
Root’s side have won only one of their past 15 Test matches and were beaten 4-0 by Australia in this winter’s Ashes.
But they showed promise across the final two days in Antigua before being thwarted in their push for victory by a stubborn West Indies on Saturday.
“We showed a huge amount of character,” Root told BBC Sport.
England suffered an all-too-familiar collapse on day one as they slumped to 48-4, before Jonny Bairstow’s superb 140 helped them post 311.
After West Indies replied with 375, the tourists declared on 349-6 on day five following centuries from Zak Crawley (121) and Root (109), before the hosts reached 147-4 at the close.
England failed to pass 300 once in 10 innings in the Ashes, after which director of cricket Ashley Giles, head coach Chris Silverwood and…
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