Chase, an inconceivable prospect

By Delvon McEwan

Approximately one year into his international career, Roston Chase is living a dream and providing the West Indies with some spectacular feats and inconceivable results, at least on his behalf it is. When Chase debuted for the West Indies in July 2016 against a powerful India line-up, there were many questions surrounding his selection ahead of Guyana Jaguars skipper Leon Johnson in the playing XI.
To make matters worse, the 24-year-old rookie only managed 31 runs in that Test match, which West Indies lost by an innings and 92 runs playing at home in Antigua.
Ever since, he has been on firm ground and silenced his critics and his most recent performance in the three-match Q Mobile Test series has justified his selection further as the ‘inconceivable prospect’. He finished as the leading run scorer in the series with 403 runs at an average of 100.75, inclusive of two centuries and two half centuries. No other batsman surpassed 300 runs on some challenging pitches, as Chase also contributed with ball, claiming six victims in the series.
The lofty all-rounder was determined, shrugging off all challenges – whether hits to the body and other testing times in the middle as his peers easily succumbed – in his stubborn stand to prevent the Pakistanis from creating history in winning their first Test series in the Caribbean. However, his efforts failed in the penultimate over of the final Test match as number 11 Shannon Gabriel unimaginably attempted a heave against leg spinner Yasir Shah, only to drag the ball onto his stumps, to give Pakistan a happy ending and their most decorated skipper, Misbah-ul-Haq, and most successful batsman, Younis Khan, a memorable farewell.
Nevertheless, Chase’s heroics in a mere 10 months at the international level cannot go unnoticed. To date, he averages 48.53 from 10 matches, with three centuries and three half centuries. His three centuries have all been significant in matches West Indies would have probably been humiliated.
His first century (137* against India) is his best to date. He persevered against all the Indian tricks to remain unbeaten as West Indies held on for a draw. He also took five wickets in an innings of the said match, becoming the second West Indian behind Sir Garfield Sobers to do so in 50 years.

According to an ESPN Cricinfo article dated May 1, 2017, under the headline “My superhero name would be Crisis Man”, Chase is quoted as saying with a laugh after the day’s play: “There’s a little joke in the dressing room, among the Barbados guys, that if it was a superhero movie, my superhero name would be Crisis Man.
“I relish these situations where we are on the back foot, under pressure. I just like to dig my team out of a hole all the time.”
Chase is not gaudy at the crease by any account, but he is indeed the Crisis Man. At Kensington Oval in the second Test of the series against Pakistan, Chase made his fourth score of over fifty in Test cricket, in his ninth match. At that point, three of his four innings had come after his team was struggling at four down for less than 70, including a match-saving 137 against India in Jamaica last August.
Again, he did so yesterday as West Indies were reeling at 3-47 and were four down before they had reached 70 runs, but the Barbadian stood tall to score his third Test century, finishing unbeaten on 101 and is the only middle order and lower batsman in the West Indies side that featured in this series who is sure of a ticket to England.
The right-handed batsman, who hails from Christchurch, has been West Indies’ best pick in the past two years and the selectors could further justify their operation if they recalled Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels to the middle for the England trip.
Chase, along with the bowlers, was the standout for the Caribbean unit. The former West Indies U-19 Captain, however, he needs to be guided, as he could provide the type of batting that is successful in modern-day cricket.