Roston Chase to lead Barbadian contingent at Sir Garfield Sobers' state funeral

West Indies Test captain Roston Chase will lead the Barbadian contingent of the national team to the state funeral of Sir Garfield Sobers in Barbados on Wednesday, July 29. Cricket West Indies (CWI) issued a press release following the team's 90-run win over Pakistan in the first Test of the ongoing two-match series.

CWI announced that all the Barbados players who are a part of the Test squad will fly from Trinidad, the venue for the first Test, to attend the state funeral of Sobers, who passed away on July 17.

Other than Chase, vice-captain Jomel Warrican, Shai Hope, Joshua Bishop, Kemar Roach, Justin Greaves and assistant coach Floyd Reifer will also be a part of the delegation. CWI president Kishore Shallow will also be present at the funeral.

“The opportunity for our Barbadian representatives to be present at the State Funeral of The Right Excellent Sir Garfield Sobers is a deeply meaningful one for West Indies cricket. On a day when the cricketing world celebrated his extraordinary life, the team honoured his enduring legacy with a performance that reflected the courage, resilience, and skill that defined his remarkable career and inspired generations,” said CWI President, Dr Shallow, in a statement.

“We are deeply grateful to Prime Minister, Hon. Mia Amor Mottley and her Government for making this possible, and reaffirm our commitment to preserving the memory of a true icon whose name will forever be synonymous with the greatness of West Indies cricket.”

CWI Directors, Enoch Lewis, Bissoondyal Singh, Clement Marcellin and CEO Chris Dehring will also be in attendance.

Chase remembers Sir Garfield Sobers on his birth anniversary

Chase dedicated West Indies' comprehensive win over Pakistan at the Brian Lara Stadium to Sir Garfield Sobers. Sobers would have turned 90 on July 28, and coincidentally Windies' victory margin over Pakistan was also 90 runs.

"On behalf of the West Indies senior cricket men's team, we would like to dedicate this victory to the late, great Sir Garfield Sobers. He's a legend of the game, a hero of everyone in this dressing room. He's done everything on the cricket field and is so iconic that he would have been 90 years old today, and we won by 90 runs. So it was destined for him. We had a chat about trying to make him feel special in his grave, and I hope he's smiling on us right now. So Sir Garfield Sobers, I want to say thank you for everything that you've done for West Indies cricket, and we've tried to make you proud. We hope you're happy, and may you continue to rest in peace," Roston Chase said in a video released by Cricket West Indies across social media platforms.