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Roston Chase : Appreciation Thread

Chase and rainfall have carried WI in the 2nd test. Without them they would have lost match easily
 
He's become somewhat of a reliable batsman for the West Indies, add to that his wicket taking off spin.
 
What a good Test player Chase is. Would make the team on Batting alone, or bowling alone. Excellent temperament for cricket!
 
A magnificent knock by Roston Chase, made 67*(38) against South Africa in the 2nd T20I between the both sides.
 
Roston Chase is emerging as one of the best all-rounders in the West Indies. In a CPL match tonight he scored a magnificent 56 off 40 deliveries which helped his team St Lucia Kings to achieve an above par score against Trinbago Knight Riders.
 
Roston Chase is emerging as one of the best all-rounders in the West Indies. In a CPL match tonight he scored a magnificent 56 off 40 deliveries which helped his team St Lucia Kings to achieve an above par score against Trinbago Knight Riders.

I say he is the 2nd best all-rounder from West Indies (first being Jason Holder).

I didn't include Narine as he doesn't play international cricket anymore.
 
I am shocked to see Roston Chase playing in ILT20 2025 instead of the Test series against Pakistan. I remember one of his old interviews where he said he wanted to be the main all-rounder for the West Indies in Tests and across all formats.
 
Madness. Roston Chase hasn't played a Test in 2 years.
I thought he would have been a shoe in for selection on the recent tour to Pakistan.

He has played some crunch knocks in the past. I haven't followed enough to know why he wasnt selected for two years but I do remember him standing tall with the bat quite a bit more than many other WIndies players.
 
I thought he would have been a shoe in for selection on the recent tour to Pakistan.

He has played some crunch knocks in the past. I haven't followed enough to know why he wasnt selected for two years but I do remember him standing tall with the bat quite a bit more than many other WIndies players.
He had a good debut series against us in 2017 when Misbah and Younis had their farewell but it went downhill afterwards.

Averages 19.60 in his last 23 Tests with the bat.
 
It's not madness. Smaller boards could care less about Test cricket. They've seen the writing on the wall.
The appointment is nothing to do with the wider context of Test cricket, profitability etc. CWI's statement says they created some weird evaluation process involving psychometric tests - and Chase apparently scored highest.

However in their process they forgot one thing - actual cricketing ability ! Do you seriously think Roston Chase is the best candidate on merit ? Someone who cannot hold a place even in this WI Test team ? His stats are absolutely embarrassing.

He doesn't even captain Barbados in FC cricket ! If they wanted an experienced leader to groom a young deputy maybe that'd make sense. However senior citizen and another non-regular Jomel Warrican is the vice captain !

The other crazy thing is that WI for the last 7-8 years have generally curated seam friendly conditions and developed a good crop of seamers. By appointing this pair, are they now gonna play two spinners at home and create turners ?

Every single WI fan online I see is baffled and are rightly blasting the CWI.
 
He had a good debut series against us in 2017 when Misbah and Younis had their farewell but it went downhill afterwards.

Averages 19.60 in his last 23 Tests with the bat.
Despite this - he has the second most tons from a WIndies batter in the last 10 years.

I agree with what you saying that he seems like a wild selection but I agree with @Nikhil_cric that it's really down to the low priority West Indies place on tests. I understand your point on the psychometric tests but I think the objectives were probably to find someone who could hold the side together for a bit while WICB go through the motions with Test Cricket and pretend to care. Someone who won't embarrass the board, isn't in contention for other formats so won't rock the boat, has no chance of running away for a T20 league and can carry himself on the field. Chase probably ticks those boxes - cricketing form and ability don't matter as much. And regarding your point on the two spinners, I think he will basically be a Salman Agha type player rather than an out and out spinner. A specialist low-mid order bat.

The more I think of it in context of where WIndies are it does make sense. He is a less nepotistic version of Shan Masood..is there to fulfil the same role as Shan is .
 
The appointment is nothing to do with the wider context of Test cricket, profitability etc. CWI's statement says they created some weird evaluation process involving psychometric tests - and Chase apparently scored highest.

However in their process they forgot one thing - actual cricketing ability ! Do you seriously think Roston Chase is the best candidate on merit ? Someone who cannot hold a place even in this WI Test team ? His stats are absolutely embarrassing.

He doesn't even captain Barbados in FC cricket ! If they wanted an experienced leader to groom a young deputy maybe that'd make sense. However senior citizen and another non-regular Jomel Warrican is the vice captain !

The other crazy thing is that WI for the last 7-8 years have generally curated seam friendly conditions and developed a good crop of seamers. By appointing this pair, are they now gonna play two spinners at home and create turners ?

Every single WI fan online I see is baffled and are rightly blasting the CWI.

Their selections in ODI's and T20I's have been excellent in recent times, given all the constraints.

So it's not incompetence for sure.

The fact that they have appointed Chase out of the blue suggests that they just want to build a perfunctory Test side just for the sake of it.

Mind you, it's not like West Indies Championship is brimming with talent. 38-39 year old Jason Muhammad was the top scorer this season.

That should tell you everything about their red ball standards.
 
Despite this - he has the second most tons from a WIndies batter in the last 10 years.

I agree with what you saying that he seems like a wild selection but I agree with @Nikhil_cric that it's really down to the low priority West Indies place on tests. I understand your point on the psychometric tests but I think the objectives were probably to find someone who could hold the side together for a bit while WICB go through the motions with Test Cricket and pretend to care. Someone who won't embarrass the board, isn't in contention for other formats so won't rock the boat, has no chance of running away for a T20 league and can carry himself on the field. Chase probably ticks those boxes - cricketing form and ability don't matter as much. And regarding your point on the two spinners, I think he will basically be a Salman Agha type player rather than an out and out spinner. A specialist low-mid order bat.

The more I think of it in context of where WIndies are it does make sense. He is a less nepotistic version of Shan Masood..is there to fulfil the same role as Shan is .
There's three issues - a) the last Test ton came in 2019; b) he's become a regular again in white-ball cricket and c) Shan Masood was (rightly or wrongly) a Test regular for Pakistan when appointed whereas Roston Chase hasn't played Tests in 2 years. Shan had extensive red-ball captaincy experience in PAK FC and English County whereas Roston Chase doesn't even captain his home island Barbados.

Shan's appointment as a specialist captain had far more merit than this. However yes I agree the only explanation is that Chase is an interim appointment for this WTC cycle until a younger alternative is ready, i.e. Alick Athanaze. Yet following that logic, surely you'd appoint a young deputy, not 32 year old Jomel Warrican who's not a regular starter in a team built around its fast bowlers !

If what you and @Nikhil_cric are saying is correct about WI's deprioritising Test cricket (which isn't a valid excuse - as long as the format exists then cricket boards should still strive to put out competitive teams in whatever little Test cricket they can economically sustain to play) then instead of a perfunctory announcement, why produce this hyperbole about a groundbreaking, data-driven process ?

Moreover, why say this will be a model for future appointments including in white-ball cricket ?! Read the last line of their statement.

This announcement follows the completion of a groundbreaking, robust and structured process to evaluate and recommend the next captain and vice-captain of the West Indies Test team.

Recognizing the critical role of leadership in shaping team culture, driving performance, and ensuring long-term success, CWI adopted a data-informed, multi-dimensional framework to guide the selection. This marks a significant evolution in how leadership appointments are made, aimed at strengthening accountability, transparency, and alignment with modern cricketing standards.

The process began with a shortlist of candidates selected based on factors including Test experience, leadership qualities, and captaincy credentials. The shortlisted players included: John Campbell, Tevin Imlach, Joshua Da Silva, Justin Greaves, Roston Chase, and Jomel Warrican.

Each candidate went through a detailed assessment process that included psychometric testing to evaluate leadership style, behaviour, and overall suitability for the role, as well as structured interviews focused on tactical approach, communication skills, and team culture. The interview panel consisted of Head Coach Daren Sammy, Director of Cricket Miles Bascombe, and Chairman of the Cricket Strategy and Officiating Committee, Enoch Lewis.

The final recommendation was based on a weighted scoring system across six key areas: leadership, respect within the team, cricket knowledge, personal conduct, media and communication skills, and the results of the psychometric evaluation. The top-ranked candidates were recommended as captain and vice-captain and subsequently approved by the CWI Board.

CWI President Dr. Kishore Shallow praised the integrity and innovation of the process.

“This selection process is one of the most comprehensive and forward-thinking we have undertaken. I am deeply impressed by the professionalism, objectivity, and strategic thinking that shaped the final decision. It sets a new benchmark for leadership appointments in West Indies cricket.”

These appointments signal a clear strategic direction for the Test team, reinforcing team culture and positioning the West Indies to compete more effectively on the global stage. CWI also sees this process as a model for future captaincy appointments across all formats.
 

Chase: 'There's a legacy attached to captaining West Indies'​


Roston Chase is reflecting on legacy as he takes on the job of captaining West Indies in Tests. In his new role, he follows in the footsteps of Frank Worrell, Garfield Sobers, Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards. But Chase is also thinking of his own personal journey to Test captaincy, having once being served a two-year ultimatum by his mother to show he can make a career out of cricket. It was the love for cricket that drove him, he said.

Now a 33-year-old Test allrounder with 49 Test matches under his belt, Chase remembers what it was like for him at 18, just trying to make his way in the Barbados team, for whom he eventually made his debut at that age.

"I was a student at the University of West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill at the time, and I would be taking a lot of leave to go and play like in the first-class competition," Chase said. "I wasn't cemented in the Barbados team at that stage. So my mother encouraged me, but gave me an ultimatum that I will be given two years to make myself a permanent fixture in the Barbados team or I will have to go to school permanently.

"I loved cricket more than school. I was always a good student, but cricket was my love. I worked hard, and I'm glad that she gave me that ultimatum because that really was the driving force for me to carry my cricket to the next level."

Chase's father, too, had been instrumental in driving his career, he said. "He would come and watch all my games, and talk to me about the game, [like] where I need to improve or I need to work on - the dos and don'ts."

West Indies' Test schedule is lighter than most others these days, but Chase captains the side, that, in the 1980s, was arguably the best that ever played the longest form of cricket. He feels the weight of that history.

"Captaining the West Indies is a great job to have, and there's a legacy attached to it," he said. "Playing for the West Indies means everything to me, so I'm ready for the responsibilities which come with the job."

Source: ESPNCricinfo
 
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