West Indies captain Roston Chase demanded a penalty for the umpires after several controversial decisions went against them during the first Test against Australia in Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados. Australia beat West Indies by 159 runs as Josh Hazlewood ran through the hosts on Day 3 with his five-wicket haul.

Following their loss, Chase called out the contentious decisions during the match and said that the umpires should face penalties for their wrong calls, as one bad decision can make or break a player’s career.

He mentioned how players face harsh penalties when they’re found breaching the code of conduct and asked for similar treatment of umpires.

“But the officials, nothing ever happens to them. They just have a wrong decision or questionable decision, and life just goes on. You're talking about guys' careers. One bad decision could make or break a guy's career. I just think that it should be an even playground in terms of when players step out of line, they're penalised.

I think that there should be some penalty put in place when you have blatant decisions going against you," said Chase in the post-match press conference.

Three decisions became the talking point of the Test match as on Day 1, Australia batter Travis Head was given a reprieve by TV umpire Adrian Holdstock after he ruled him not out on 53, citinga  lack of evidence on a clear catch by Shai Hope behind the stumps. Later on Day 2, Roston Chase was given out lbw against Pat Cummins, despite the cameras showing an inside edge onto the pads on replays.

To add to the West Indies’ woes, Shai Hope was given out against Beau Webster as a low take from wicketkeeper Alex Carey was ruled in Australia’s favour. West Indies head coach Darren Sammy even met with match referee Javagal Srinath after Day 2 to express his concerns over the controversial decisions. Meanwhile, after losing the first Test, West Indies will be eager to make a comeback in the second Test of the series, beginning from July 3 in Grenada.