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."

Chase has not played a Test since March 2023, but was appointed captain following a "detailed assessment process", according to Cricket West Indies.

West Indies only have 13 Tests scheduled in the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 cycle. Other than that, they have a non-WTC Test pencilled in against Afghanistan, in 2027. Chase's first assignment as Test captain will be the three-match home series against Australia, which begins in Bridgetown on June 25.