by Abhishek Mukherjee

2000-01.

The mighty South Africans would beat the West Indians at their den, 2-1 in the Tests, 5-2 in the ODIs.

Two of the three West Indian wins came in dead-rubber matches.

There was no respite for the hosts, the high point being Courtney Walsh's 500-wicket milestone.

The South Africans were having a net session at they Weymouth Cricket Ground.

The team manager asked the young local cricketers who the fast bowlers were.

"Me," responded a teenager. He was five foot eight.

The manager laughed, but did not stop the youngster from bowling.

The first ball was pitched short. It came quicker than Gary Kirsten had expected, and hit him on the helmet.

Daryll Cullinan called him after the session:

- What's your name, young man?

- Tino Best.

- Are you any relation to Carlisle?

- He's my uncle.

Also on the ground was Colin Croft, who told Best that he was the quickest in the West Indies at that point. "Something's wrong with the structure," he sighed.

Word had got around by the time the net bowlers arrived next day.

"Where's Tito? Where's Tito?" Makhaya Ntini got the name wrong.

"Tino," he corrected, raising his hand.

Ntini watched him bowl that day. "You're quicker than me. You're going to make it," he told him after the nets.

Best "made it" in the Barbados Test alright, but not as a bowler. His job was to move the sight screen.

Two years later he broke through to the Test side.

He did not have the greatest numbers, but he was good enough to play 57 times for West Indies across formats.

The high point, of course, was that 95 at Edgbaston – at that point the highest Test score by a No. 11.

Tino Best was born on 26 August 1981.