Sammy confident of Chase's fitness for first Pakistan Test

Having missed the recently concluded ODI series against New Zealand owing to an injury to his right index finger, head coach Daren Sammy has indicated that all-rounder Roston Chase remains on track to lead the Test side despite some lingering swelling.

"I spoke to Roston earlier today," Sammy said. 

"He came to do his workout. Still a little bit puffy. But Roston is a fighter. I know he's not going to want to miss any Test cricket. 

“I'm pretty sure Dr Byam [team physio Denis Byam] has a way of keeping guys on the park, so I'm pretty sure Roston will be ready for the first Test."

Following a 3-2 series loss at the hands of New Zealand at home, West Indies will move on to their ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 assignment against Pakistan, set to begin on the 25th of July in Tarouba.

West Indies sit eighth in the WTC Standings while Pakistan are at the bottom of the standings.

Meanwhile, Sammy also reflected on the impressive debut ODI series of 19-year-old left-arm wristspinner Vitel Lawes.

The spinner, who impressed at the ICC Men’s Under-19 T20 World Cup earlier this year, was a surprise call-up for the series and was rewarded with eight wickets in five matches against New Zealand.

"I would say I'm proud of what he's done," Sammy said. 

"Taking a chance on a kid who's never played [even] a game, in a region where you're not sure how fast a player will develop. 

"And we didn't pick Lawes just out of our heart. The processes that we followed in fast-tracking his development, a lot of people don't see that.

"Lawes, after the series, I said, you know, I'm really proud of him to come out [with] eight wickets, looking like he belongs in the game and especially [with] us trying to develop players.

"Really proud of what he's done in his debut series."

Head coach Sammy was also vocal about Shimron Hetmyer and Sherfane Rutherford's valuable knocks in the series finale, but called for consistency from the two middle-order batters.

The duo smashed 69* and 64 respectively in pursuit of 269 as the West Indies held their nerve to wrap up their series on a high.

"When you see someone like Hetty play like that and you see Sherfane play like that, you tend to ask yourself, why is it not more consistent?" Sammy said. 

"For me, it's always a constant battle. When are they going to be consistent? When do we stop giving opportunities? 

"But you look at the talent that's there, it is so hard [for them] not to be part of the cricket. I was quite pleased."

Series schedule

1st Test: July 25-29, Tarouba

2nd Test: August 2-6, Port of Spain