Tino Best: 12 interesting facts about the West Indian pacer

Tino Best is widely reckoned for his menacing pace and delinquent behaviour which also took a heavy toll of him.

Tino la Bertram Best, born August 2015 is a West Indian cricketer, an aggressive right-arm pace bowler. He is widely reckoned for his menacing pace and delinquent behaviour which also took a heavy toll of him. On his birthday, Suraj Choudhari explores 12 intriguing facts about Best.

1.  Impactful debut for Barbados

Best made an impactful First-Class debut for Barbados in 2002 against Guyana where he had four scalps to his name as his team emerged victorious by a huge margin of 162 runs. 

2.  Terrific performance earns him a Test call

Best had a magnificent run in his debut First-Class season for Barbados (picked 17 wickets in five matches); this performance chiselled his path into the Test side in the third game of the 2003 Frank Worrell Trophy at home. 

3.  Dismantled Pakistan

In the second Test of Pakistan in West Indies Test series in 2005, Best ripped through the Pakistani batting line-up. He picked four Pakistani wickets within a span of 11 deliveries but all in vein as the hosts lost the Test by 136 runs.

4.  Fined for three beamers

Best was charged with 50 percent of his total match-fee for bowling three abhorrent beamers in the second Test at Kandy against Sri Lanka in July 2005.

5.  Special appearance in a movie

Like many cricketers, Best too flirted with acting and made a special appearance in the 2007 Barbadian sports drama movie named ‘Hit for Six’. The film also starred other cricketers like Everton Weekes, Desmond Haynes, Gordon Greenidge and Roland Butcher.

6.  Yorkshire

Best had a brief stint with the English County team Yorkshire in 2010.

7.  Record 95

Best inscribed his name in the history of Test cricket with his alluring knock of 95 while batting at number 11 against England in 2012 at Edgbaston. 

8.  Highest partnership

In the Edgbaston Test of 2012 against England, where Best scored 95, he also recorded the highest tenth wicket partnership for West Indies along with Denesh Ramdin. The duo accounted for 143 runs stand between them in the first innings for the last wicket.

9.  Career best and joint-highest wicket-taker

Best recorded his finest performance in Test cricket in the second Test of West Indies in Bangladesh Test series at Khulna in November 2012. He claimed six Bangladeshi wickets and leaked just 71 runs in the Test. He was also the joint-highest wicket-taker in the entire series with 12 wickets to his name.

10.  Altercation with Shoaib Malik

In a Caribbean Premier League (CPL) game between Barbados Tridents and St Lucia Zouks in 2014, Best and Shoaib Malik got into an ugly bickering after the latter was clean bowled. The brawl resulted in a penalty where Best was fined 10 percent of his total match-fee whereas Malik had to pay a penalty of 50 percent. 

11.  Featured in Rest of the World

Best featured in Rest of the World team in the Bicentenary Celebration match at the iconic Lord’s in July 2014.

 12. Mind the Windows

Best penned down his secrets and many interesting anecdotes in his autobiography called Mind the Windows: My Story. The book has some real deep stories about Best’s personal life and many more which was released in April 2016.

(Suraj Choudhari, an avid cricket follower who plays the sport at club level, is a staffer with Criclife)

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