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Tino Best

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Tino Best
Personal information
Full name
Tino la Bertram Best
Born (1981-08-26) 26 August 1981 (age 43)
Saint Michael, Barbados
NicknameAnimal, Bobski[1]
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm fast
RoleBowler
RelationsCarlisle Best (great-uncle)[2]
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 251)1 May 2003 v Australia
Last Test19 December 2013 v New Zealand
ODI debut (cap 123)15 May 2004 v Bangladesh
Last ODI4 January 2014 v New Zealand
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2001/02–2015/16Barbados
2010Yorkshire
2013–2014St Lucia Zouks
2016Hampshire
2016St Kitts & Nevis Patriots
2017Barbados Tridents
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 25 26 121 68
Runs scored 401 76 1,593 195
Batting average 12.53 9.50 12.06 10.83
100s/50s 0/1 0/0 0/2 0/0
Top score 95 24 95 24
Balls bowled 3,716 1,300 15,609 2,902
Wickets 57 34 330 88
Bowling average 40.19 34.02 29.37 29.00
5 wickets in innings 2 0 13 1
10 wickets in match 0 0 2 0
Best bowling 6/40 4/35 7/33 5/24
Catches/stumpings 6/– 4/– 42/– 15/–
Source: CricketArchive, 26 May 2016

Tino la Bertram Best (born 26 August 1981) is a former West Indian cricketer. Since 2002, he has played domestic cricket for his native Barbados, with a season at English club Yorkshire in 2010. Best made his Test debut in May 2003 and played his first One Day International a year later. A back strain incurred in May 2004 prevented Best from playing cricket until March the following year. In 2008 Best signed to play in the Indian Cricket League because he had not played international cricket since 2006. He returned to the side when the West Indies fielded a side weakened by contract disputes between leading players and the West Indies Cricket Board but was dropped shortly after.

On his return to the Test side on 10 June 2012, he broke the record for highest score by a number 11 batsman, making 95 against England at Edgbaston. Later in 2013 his record was surpassed by Ashton Agar, who scored 98. The 143-run partnership with Denesh Ramdin in the same match was also notable; it is the third-highest Test stand with one wicket remaining.[3]

Early career

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Tino Best made his debut in first-class cricket on 25 January 2002, playing for Barbados against Guyana in the Busta Cup. He opened the bowling with Ian Bradshaw and in the first innings took four wickets for 50 runs (4/50), and Barbados won the match by 162 runs.[4] Best finished his debut season with 17 wickets from 5 matches at an average of 24.29 with a single five-wicket haul.[5][6]

International breakthrough

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At the time of his Test call up for the Test series against Australia, Best was Barbados' leading wicket-taker in the Carib Beer Cup for the 2002/03 season with 39 dismissals. Though Best was originally drafted in as cover for fast bowler Jermaine Lawson who had chicken pox,[7] when Best made his debut in the third Test he opened the bowling with Lawson. The West Indies lost and Best bowled twenty overs without taking a wicket.[8]

After an ineffective first Test, Best was overlooked for the West Indies' overseas tours and drifted out of contention with the emergence of fellow fast bowlers Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor. Back at domestic level, he fell out of favour and struggled to be selected for Barbados' Red Stripe Bowl side.[9] While he was infrequently chosen for the one-day team, he improved on his previous season's wicket tally in the first-class competition and finished with 49 wickets including three five-wicket hauls,[6] and was rewarded with a call up to the West Indies side to face England in March 2004. Best's first international wickets came in his second Test, the first in a four-match series against England; his maiden dismissal was that of batsman Graham Thorpe.[10] England won the series 3–0 and Best finished as the West Indies' leading wicket-taker in the series (and third overall) with 12 from four matches at a cost of 25.08 runs each.[11][12]

Between June and August 2004 the West Indies embarked on a return tour of England. Best played in the Lord's Test and was stumped off Ashley Giles' bowling after some banter from Andrew Flintoff wound him up sufficiently to try to slog the ball into the windows at Lord's. During the match Best suffered a back strain and was unable to take part in the rest of the series. It was hoped that the fast bowler would recover within a month, however the injury was more serious than initially hoped and he did not play cricket again until March 2005.[13] In the Second Test against Pakistan in June 2005, after a wicketless first innings – where he had Kamran Akmal caught off a no-ball – and a second innings spell of 5-0-30-0, Best took four wickets in 11 balls, as Pakistan faltered from 223 for 4 to 309 all out. However, it was not enough to give West Indies the win.

Best was fined half his match fee in July 2005 for bowling three beamers during a Test against Sri Lanka.[14] He was dropped from the Test side after the July 2005 tour of Sri Lanka. Tino appeared in the cricket movie Hit for Six playing a Barbados cricket player.

International fringes

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Despite successful performances for Barbados in domestic cricket by the time Best signed with the rebel Indian Cricket League in February 2008 he had not played international cricket since May 2006. Best played Twenty20 cricket for Mumbai Champs during his spell at ICL, he also played Twenty20 that season for Barbados.[15]

In July 2009, there was a pay dispute between the West Indies players and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). As a result, an understrength squad was picked for the series against Bangladesh: of the 15 players named, which included Best, nine were uncapped.[16] Sriram Veera of ESPNcricinfo noted of his performance on the second day of the first Test that "[Best] has, in the past, been guilty of trying to bowl faster than what he was capable of and being erratic as a result. Today, he repeatedly hit the short-of-length in the off-stump channel and slipped in the occasional bouncer."[17] Those two wickets were his only scalps in the series and he ended up conceding 192 runs.[18] The West Indies lost the series 2–0 as Bangladesh secured their first overseas series win.[19] All the players who played for the West Indies during the contract dispute were given central contracts by the WICB, including Best.[20]

Best signed a contract with Yorkshire County Cricket Club in April 2010 to represent them until the end of May.[21] After some good performances, his contract was extended, but his form tailed off and he was demoted from opening the bowling, before being dropped from the team at the end of July.[22][23] In nine first-class matches for the club, Best managed 18 wickets at a cost of 44.05 runs each.[24][25] He was more successful in Yorkshire's one-day matches, taking ten wickets from five matches at an average of less than 20.[26][27] In August 2010, Best's central contract was not renewed.[28]

Best's domestic performance in the 2011/12 season, in which he took 17 first-class wickets at an average of 20.64, led to his recall to the international squad: in March 2012, Best was selected in the West Indies' ODI squad to face Australia at home. Though he did not play in the series, two months later when the West Indies toured England Best was drafted into the Test squad as cover for injured fast bowler Shannon Gabriel.[29]

In July 2014, he played for the Rest of the World side in the Bicentenary Celebration match at Lord's.[30]

References

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  1. ^ "Tino Best: 'If I wrote a book I'd call it Mind the Windows'". ESPNcricinfo. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  2. ^ "Speedster lets deeds do talking". 2 May 2003.
  3. ^ "Tino Best says Windies legends inspired his record knock". 10 June 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  4. ^ f46317 Barbados v Guyana: Busta Cup 2001/02, CricketArchive, retrieved 22 May 2012
  5. ^ First-class batting and fielding in each season by Tino Best, CricketArchive, retrieved 22 May 2012
  6. ^ a b First-class bowling in each season by Tino Best, CricketArchive, retrieved 22 May 2012
  7. ^ Jacobs and Lawson out of second Test, ESPNcricinfo, 16 April 2003, retrieved 22 May 2012
  8. ^ f47269 t1643 West Indies v Australia: Australia in West Indies 2002/03 (3rd Test), CricketArchive, retrieved 22 May 2012
  9. ^ Best out to prove critics wrong, ESPNcricinfo, 4 December 2003, retrieved 22 May 2012
  10. ^ West Indies name 13 for Sabina Park, ESPNcricinfo, 8 March 2004, retrieved 22 May 2012
  11. ^ England in the West Indies, 2003–04 tour summary, ESPNcricinfo, 30 April 2007, retrieved 22 May 2012
  12. ^ Records / The Wisden Trophy, 2003/04 / Most wickets, ESPNcricinfo, retrieved 22 May 2012
  13. ^ Best returns to action for Barbados, ESPNcricinfo, 2 March 2005, retrieved 22 May 2012
  14. ^ Beamers land Best with hefty fine, BBC Sport, 26 July 2005, retrieved 16 May 2012
  15. ^ Tino Best signs with ICL, ESPNcricinfo, 16 February 2008, retrieved 22 May 2012
  16. ^ West Indies name replacement squad, ESPNcricinfo, 8 July 2009, retrieved 22 May 2012
  17. ^ Veera, Sriram (10 July 2009), Seamers hand West Indies the advantage, ESPNcricinfo, retrieved 22 May 2012
  18. ^ Records / Bangladesh in West Indies Test Series, 2009 / Most wickets, ESPNcricinfo, retrieved 22 May 2012
  19. ^ Veera, Sriram, Raqibul and Shakib inspire first overseas series win, ESPNcricinfo, retrieved 22 May 2012
  20. ^ Cozier, Tony (12 November 2009), Injured Fidel Edwards' contract withheld by WICB, ESPNcricinfo, retrieved 28 May 2012
  21. ^ Yorkshire sign West Indies pace bowler Tino Best, BBC Sport, 17 April 2010, retrieved 16 May 2012
  22. ^ Yorkshire hope to extend the stay of bowler Tino Best, BBC Sport, 13 May 2010, retrieved 16 May 2012
  23. ^ Hardcastle, Graham (13 August 2010), "Yorkshire's Tino Best improving his bowling action", The Press, retrieved 16 May 2012
  24. ^ First-class batting and fielding for each team by Tino Best, CricketArchive, retrieved 16 May 2012
  25. ^ First-class bowling for each team by Tino Best, CricketArchive, retrieved 16 May 2012
  26. ^ List A batting and fielding for each team by Tino Best, CricketArchive, retrieved 16 May 2012
  27. ^ List A bowling for each team by Tino Best, CricketArchive, retrieved 16 May 2012
  28. ^ Sarwan, Taylor and Ramdin cut from WI contract list, ESPNcricinfo, 31 August 2010, retrieved 28 May 2012
  29. ^ Tino Best replaces injured Gabriel, ESPNcricinfo, 22 May 2012, retrieved 22 May 2012
  30. ^ "MCC v Rest of the World - 5 July". Lord's. 5 July 2014. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
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