Roston Chase has voiced concerns about the “infrastructure problems” and the continuous “struggle for finances” in the Caribbean, but said that he didn’t want to use that as an excuse for West Indies‘ poor performances in Test cricket in recent times.
West Indies have lost five of their six Test matches this year. This includes being bundled out for 27 in the third Test against Australia in July. On Saturday, they went down by an innings and 140 runs to India on the third day of the opening Test in Ahmedabad.
“I think the systems in the Caribbean are a bit poor in terms of training facilities and stuff,” Chase said after the game. “I am not using that as an excuse or something to hide behind for poor performances that we’ve been putting out lately. I still think that the onus is on the players to find some way to churn up runs and wickets and stuff.
“But what I would say is yes, there is obviously a struggle in the Caribbean for finances. So whatever help we can get, if they are planning to get the help, I hope that we do get it so that we could strengthen the infrastructure for cricket.”
While West Indies still have good fast bowlers in their set-up, their batting has been in freefall. In their last 15 innings in Test cricket, they have crossed 250 only once. Tagenarine Chanderpaul’s first-class average of 34.80 was the best among the top six batters in the West Indies’ XI for the first Test against India. Chase attributed the low averages to the pitches in the Caribbean not being batting-friendly.
“Yeah, that is some of the infrastructure problems that we do have,” he said. “The pitches in the Caribbean are not really batsman-friendly. So guys don’t really bat for long periods and score those big scores. And then, too, the outfields in the Caribbean are really slow. When you hit the ball in the gaps, you probably end up struggling to get two. Those are just some of the problems that we are faced with in the Caribbean.
“That’s why you see guys averaging so low. If you look at the past series we had against Australia, I think that was the first time I’ve ever played an international series where a batsman never scored a hundred in three matches. Obviously, we had a poor batting display. This has been something that has been plaguing us for the past two series.”
“Anytime you win a toss in a Test match and bat and you don’t bat out the first day, you’re always going to be in trouble.”
In Ahmedabad, West Indies won the toss and batted first. They were bowled out for 162 in 44.1 overs in their first innings, and for 146 in 45.1 in their second.
“We’ve not been able to at least bat 80 overs, bat a day or even get at least 250 or 300 runs on the board,” Chase said. “Anytime you win a toss in a Test match and bat and you don’t bat out the first day, you’re always going to be in trouble.
“We saw the wicket. Although it had a bit of moisture, we still thought that it was a good wicket to bat first on. We thought that once we batted well and the openers went out there and just softened that moisture, then it would have been a good wicket to bat on, as we did see coming on later into the first day. But we didn’t start well and we never really put any partnerships in place. We never really got back into the game.”
Chase suggested the only way for the batters to improve was to tighten and trust their defence. “We gifted some of the wickets too easily,” he said. “For me, it was a bit of rough and some balls were spinning up the rough. But there wasn’t any devils in the wicket. I still thought that it was a wicket that you could stand up and bat on as shown by the Indian batters.
“But we need to trust in our defence a bit more. I can’t say that we weren’t scoring because the run rate was still good. But I just think that we need to be a little more solid in our defence.”
While West Indies’ batting has been an issue, they are also missing two of their key fast bowlers in Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph through injuries. Jason Holder also declined to be a replacement, citing a planned medical procedure. Players picking and choosing formats has also been an issue with West Indies, but Chase said that “a guy is going to try to earn his living”.
“I can’t really speak on another man’s body,” Chase said. “One thing I can say is that there’s a lot more cricket being played. There’s not a lot of rest for a player, especially if he’s playing all formats of the game. And then, especially with the leagues around the world, guys are looking to earn their money. They’re not really resting, getting adequate rest that their body may need.
“But if they can try to stay as fit as possible and do a lot of gym work and not get too bulky but be strong enough that they can handle the load or in the case where they can pick and choose certain formats of the game and be available, I think that would be obviously better for us. But it is what it is. A guy is going to try to earn his living.
“So I can’t really fault a guy for trying to go there and be available for whatever cricket it may be that he’s given the opportunity to play.”
ESPNCricinfo
