Chase Raises Concerns Over Umpiring and Fielding Errors
West Indies captain Roston Chase has voiced strong concerns over several umpiring decisions that he believes negatively impacted his team during the first Test against Australia in Barbados. Coach Daren Sammy had also expressed frustration with TV umpire Adrian Holdstock’s calls after the second day.
Chase was particularly upset by his own lbw dismissal, where an inside edge was possible, and the dismissal of Shai Hope, caught brilliantly by Alex Carey. These decisions came when West Indies were building momentum at 139 for 5 chasing Australia’s 180. There was also controversy over a caught-behind decision against Travis Head, which West Indies felt was incorrect.
“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒖𝒔,” 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑨𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒚. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈.”
Chase emphasized the need for more umpire accountability, pointing out that players face strict penalties while officials often escape consequences for poor calls. He noted that such decisions significantly affected the team’s chance to build a bigger lead.
𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝑷𝒂𝒕 𝑪𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒔, 𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘, 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈, “𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 50-50 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.”
West Indies also struggled with fielding, dropping seven catches including one on the third day when Travis Head was let off at slip. Chase acknowledged the difficulty in translating practice into match-day catches, saying, “Once one goes down, players get nervous, but we must move forward.”
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