Former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop believes that in the coming months Cricket West Indies (CWI) will have to decide whether Roston Chase is the right man to lead the Test team.
In their final Test series for the year, the West Indies ended on a losing note, going down to New Zealand 2-0—their third successive Test series defeat in 2025.
It followed a 3-0 whitewash against Australia at home in July and a 2-0 loss to India in October. Chase was also at the helm of those defeats, having been appointed Test captain in May.
The 33-year-old all-rounder has endured a torrid start as Test captain. In his 16 innings as skipper, he averages below 14, with nine single digit scores and a highest score of 44.
To make matters worse, he averaged just seven in the three-match Test series in New Zealand. His efforts with the ball are equally unimpressive, as he is conceding close to 71 runs per wicket and bowling more than 17 overs for each dismissal.
The West Indies won’t play a Test series for six months, with a two-match home series against Sri Lanka in June their next assignment.
Speaking during an interview on iSports i95.5 FM on Saturday, Bishop said CWI would have to determine whether Chase could hold his place in the side as a batsman.
“Roston by his own admission has struggled big time with the bat and it still bemuses me that a guy who can score five Test match hundreds in his first 20 or so Test matches has reached this point of his career at age 33 where he’s struggling to put even moderate innings together.
“So, the West Indies are fortunate in that they have five or six months before their next Test series to try to determine whether Roston is capable first of all of holding his place in the team and whether he can continue, so that’s their decision to make,” Bishop said.
“His bowling hasn’t really fired in the way that he would have hoped and he’s still not as sharp in terms of the captaincy strategically as I was hoping that he would reach, but again, they have five or six months to make that decision as to whether he continues.
“But it’s more than the captaincy. For me the big thing is how we develop batters around the Caribbean. How do we fulfil Alick Athanaze. You’ve got one or two other young guys around the Caribbean and how do we bring them to maturation, otherwise we’re going to chase leadership, we’re going to change coaches, and the results still won’t be what we expect,” he added.
Rubi Coby
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