England’s Ben Stokes given send-off salute by West Indies rival Marlon Samuels

Samuels accused Stokes of sledging during the West Indies' first innings but claimed the Englishman's verbal baiting spurred him on to notch a century.

"It's obvious the English boys don't learn because whenever they talk to me I continue scoring runs," he said. "But they keep on talking."

But Stokes' England team-mates leapt to his defence, with bowler Chris Jordan suggesting it was part and parcel of international cricket.

"That kind of stuff makes Stokesy tick. Any time he's in a battle, all 11 of us are going to back him."

Samuels' mocking salute was defended by leading pundits, with former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott calling it "banter and fun" while commentating for the BBC.

Ex-England spinner Graeme Swann echoed that sentiment, writing on Twitter: "He can be an absolute tool sometimes but I have to admit Marlon Samuels just made me laugh tea out of my nose with his saluting send off." 

"Heavy money on @benstokes38 getting Marlon out in the 2nd dig. Eng should line up a guard of honour for him. Love to see humour on the field."

West Indies bowling coach Curtly Ambrose also didn't see anything wrong with the constant back-and-forth between the two all-rounders.

"There's nothing wrong with a little bantering. This is international cricket. As long as it doesn't go over the top, I'm fine with it," Ambrose said.

"I think it's more friendly than anything else. He gave a salute, is that a sign of respect? I don't know but I'm hoping so.

"That's something that we don't really preach. We always make sure that we tell the guys to keep it clean, and keep it within a certain range, and don't go over the top."

Stokes may yet have the last laugh as England finished the day 74 ahead after Joe Root's unbeaten 188 led them to an imposing total of 373-6 at stumps.

- Stuff