Roston Chase has opened up about the persistent financial and infrastructure challenges facing Caribbean cricket, while maintaining that these should not be used as excuses for the West Indies’ recent poor performances in Test cricket.
The West Indies have endured a rough year, losing five of their six Tests, including a record collapse for just 27 runs against Australia in July. Their most recent defeat — an innings and 140-run loss to India in Ahmedabad — has once again sparked questions about the team’s long-term development.
‘Struggle for finances’ hurting development
Chase admitted that limited financial resources have affected cricket infrastructure across the region, particularly when it comes to training facilities and pitch quality.
“𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒇𝒇,” 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒕. “𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒃𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒈𝒆𝒕, 𝑰 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕.”
Despite these challenges, Chase emphasized that players still have a responsibility to perform. He pointed out that the Caribbean pitches often disadvantage batters, contributing to the region’s consistently low batting averages.
Pitches and batting woes
Chase said the slow outfields and tough pitches make scoring big runs difficult for Caribbean batters.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒏-𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒚,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅. “𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒈𝒖𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒘. 𝑾𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔.”
The team’s recent record supports his view — in their last 15 Test innings, they have crossed 250 only once. Against India in Ahmedabad, the West Indies were bowled out for 162 and 146 in two innings, despite winning the toss and batting first.
Chase lamented the lack of partnerships and discipline, adding that the players must trust their defensive technique more to build resilience.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒚,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕. 𝑾𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓.”
Player workload and franchise focus
Chase also touched on the growing issue of player workload and league commitments, as several key bowlers, including Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph, were unavailable due to injuries, while Jason Holder opted out for medical reasons.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒘. 𝑮𝒖𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕,” 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅. “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒅 — 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚.”
Despite the setbacks, Chase’s comments reflect a mix of honesty and hope — acknowledging the structural problems while urging players to remain accountable and determined on the field.
Also Read: Australia, Sri Lanka Share Points After Colombo Washout
