Roston Chase hasn’t played a Test game in over two years, but now, when he returns, he will have a team to lead against a side as huge as Australia. Surely, his name as the side’s captain comes as a surprise to many. And rightly so. He has only ever captained the West Indies’ white ball side, that too in just two games. But Chase has the assurance that he has what it takes to be a ‘good leader’.
“I’ve never captained a senior team in terms of the West Indies team or Barbados team [in Tests]. But I’ve captained eight teams in the West Indies before,” Chase said. “I think I’m a good leader. Obviously, I’m not perfect. I’m still learning.”
Barring the two ODI games where he filled in as the Windies’ captain, his experience leading teams comes from his younger days, when he was playing at the club and school level. However, when West Indies coach Daren Sammy suggested he make a comeback as a captain, he knew there was only one right response to that.
“I did most of my captaining in my early days like school level and local divisions. I think I have a calm style [as captain]. I really know how to bring out the best in the players that I have.”
“The captaincy conversations that I had would have been with the coach, Daren Sammy, and Miles Bascombe from the board,” Chase said. “I’ve been out for two years, but after Sammy approached me about coming back because I always wanted to come back and play Test cricket.
“I was exploring the white ball and the franchise cricket for a bit. And he asked me about coming back and I thought about it and I ended up making the decision to come back.”
He took his time before making this decision, having already passed on the same proposal in 2024. Chase, like many of his other compatriots, thought the way forward was franchise cricket. Incidents when a batter like Nicholas Pooran retires from international cricket at his prime age often further augment that notion. But his return to the longest format brings, if anything, an anti-effect to that.
“I was asked in 2024 about coming back. But at that time, I was still finding my feet and trying to get into the franchise leagues. So, I wasn’t quite ready and had the time or the availability to come back into the Test arena. But after I had the conversation with Sammy and Bascombe, I decided that this was the right time for me to come back.”
Chase will play his 50th Test as the captain of his team, and he is, by no means, unaware of what that means.
“I was very excited to get the captaincy. I mean, it is a very prestigious job,” he said. “One that many greats before me have done. So, it was a very proud moment for me when I got the news.”
West Indies start their tour against Australia on June 25, when the sides will play the first Test game in Bridgetown. Australia are fresh off a defeat in the WTC Final against South Africa, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are one of the few teams who still check all the boxes in Test cricket. However, Chase doesn’t want to start his first day at the office being overwhelmed by what lies ahead.
“I wouldn’t call it [playing Australia] pressure,” he said. “They’re obviously the No.1 team in the world. We’re just looking to go there and play our best cricket, execute the plans that we spoke about in our team meetings and the data that has been presented to us.
“So, we’re just looking to go there and give a full 100 [percent] effort and play some hard cricket.”
