CHENNAI: When Roston Chase got a call from head coach Darren Sammy about returning to Test cricket last year, he was not even thinking about it. Last playing a Test in March 2023, Chase, like many others of his generation, was looking to make his way through various franchise leagues. He was not ready at the time and wanted to explore the leagues and white-ball cricket for a while. But when captaincy was offered to him, it was an honour he could not refuse.
"I always wanted to come back and play Test cricket," said the new West Indies captain in an interaction facilitated by FanCode. "The captaincy conversations that I had would have been with the coach, Darren Sammy, and Miles Bascombe from the cricket board as well. I've been out for two years, but after Sammy approached me about coming back, I thought about it and I ended up making the decision to come back. It is a very prestigious job; one that many greats before me have done. So it was a very proud moment for me when I got the news," he said ahead of the first Test against Australia that begins on Wednesday.
Kick-starting their new WTC cycle, West Indies will play three Test matches against Australia at home before getting on the road. Chase, while excited about taking the team forward, has set realistic goals for the next two years. "We looked at the schedule and we have 14 games in the two-year cycle. We are currently in ninth position. So we said that we would try to set some realistic goals that are not too far beyond our reach. And then after that, we came up with the idea to finish somewhere in the top six. And to do that, we have to win at least six or five of those games and probably draw two or three of them. That would put us in fifth or sixth position at the end of the cycle," he explained.
For someone who has never captained at the senior level, Chase wants his players to come out and express themselves. "I have captained West Indies A-teams before. I think I'm a good leader. Obviously, I'm not perfect. I'm still learning. But I did most of my captaining in my early days like school level and local divisions. And I think my style, I have a calm style. I really know how to bring out the best in the players that I have," he said, before adding, "I want my guys to play confident and positive cricket. I mean, you see the Test game is evolving now where guys are pushing the game forward. So I think we have to evolve with the game as well. So if we could come out and express ourselves in that fashion, I think that would be good for our cricket."
Australia tour of West Indies, live on FanCode