Former West Indies pacer Tino Best on Friday (June 12) contributed to the global debate around racism, saying he would play cricket anywhere in the world except England because of the prevalence of racial discrimination there.
Speaking with Dr. Yash Kashikar on his Instagram live show Say Yash to Sports, Best narrated an incident when he wasn’t allowed to feature in the playing XI of Lashings CC at the last moment because “people in the league – European people” had complained to England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that the Caribbean cricketer had played for lower league clubs in the same season.
“I came to the ground (to play a T20 match) but I was not allowed to play. Their coach was looking at me in the nastiest way,” Best said.
The 38-year-old further revealed that ex-India opener Wasim Jaffer made his detractors pay after he felt discriminated against.
“Wasim Jaffer scored a 120 in that T20 game. He embarrassed them. Wasim is a quality batsman, I love that man. I told Wasim what happened, and he said ‘Okay’. You know he’s very soft spoken. So he just said ‘Okay’ to me, but then just smoked them. We beat them badly,” he added.
Best, who represented West Indies in 25 Tests, 26 ODIs and 6 T20Is, also made it clear that he was never subjected to racial discrimination in international cricket but the time he spent in England showed him a different side of the game.
“I would have liked to play more league cricket in my career, but not in England. It’s a very racial place. The umpires, the opposition teams target you. Because it’s an opportunity for them to play with somebody they see on TV, they get aggressive.
“I used to come to the ground and bowl quick and guys would have wanted to beat me up for bowling fast. I was in this situation when if I did not have a strong team they would have probably lynched me.
“But, you know I tell everyone Tino La Bertram Best is a different type of black man. I was a free black man. Don’t come to me. If you ever disrespect me. I am going to hurt you,” he said.
Tino Best has opened up about the racism in cricket at a time when the world is mourning the killing of George Floyd – a 46-year-old African-American, who died on May 25 in Minneapolis after Derek Chauvin, a white policeman, knelt on his neck for several minutes.
Earlier, former West Indies skipper Daren Sammy made shocking revelations about racism in cricket.
In his Instagram story last week, Sammy alleged that he and Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera were called "kalu" during their stints with the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
