Paul Merwood Best (born 8 March 1991) is a former English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er. Best is a left-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...

who bowls

slow left-arm orthodox Left-arm orthodox spin, Left-arm off spin also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of Finger spin, left-arm finger spin bowling (cricket), bowling in the sport of cricket. Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left-arm bow ...

who played for

Warwickshire County Cricket Club Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Warwickshire. Its T20 team is called the Birmingham Bears. Founde ...

. He was born at

Nuneaton Nuneaton ( ) is a market town in the borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth in northern Warwickshire, England, close to the county border with Leicestershire and West Midlands County.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Nuneaton's ...

, Warwickshire and educated at

Bablake School Bablake School is a co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school located in Coventry, England and founded in 1344 by Isabella of France, widow of Edward II of England, Edward II, making it List of the oldest scho ...

, Coventry.

Domestic career

While studying

Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic The Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic (ASNC or, informally, ASNaC) is one of the constituent departments of the University of Cambridge, and focuses on the history, material culture, languages and literatures of the various peoples who i ...

at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, Best made his first-class debut for

Cambridge MCCU Cambridge University Cricket Club, first recorded in 1817, is the representative cricket club for students of the University of Cambridge. Depending on the circumstances of each individual match, the club has always been recognised as holding ...

against

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

in 2011, with Best scoring an unbeaten 50 in the MCCU's first-innings. A further first-class appearance followed for Cambridge MCCU against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, with him taking his maiden

five wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Taking ...

with figures of 6/101 in Middlesex's first-innings. Following this he made his debut for

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

in the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

against

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

at the

Riverside Ground The Riverside Ground, known for sponsorship reasons as the Seat Unique Riverside, is a cricket venue in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England. It is home to Durham County Cricket Club, and has also hosted several international matches. H ...

. His final first-class appearance that season for Cambridge MCCU followed in May against

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, with Best scoring his maiden

century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

with a score of 150 from 181 balls while batting at number eight. He appeared in

The University Match The University Match in a cricketing context is generally understood to refer to the annual fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club. From 2001, as part of the reorganisation of first-class cricket, ...

for

Cambridge University Cricket Club Cambridge University Cricket Club, first recorded in 1817, is the representative cricket club for students of the University of Cambridge. Depending on the circumstances of each individual match, the club has always been recognised as holding ...

against

Oxford University Cricket Club Oxford University Cricket Club (OUCC), which represents the University of Oxford, has always held first-class status since 1827 when it made its debut in the inaugural University Match between OUCC and Cambridge University Cricket Club (CUCC). ...

Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

in July, taking his second five wicket haul with figures of 6/86 in Oxford University's second-innings. Prior to this, Best had made his

List A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

debut for Warwickshire in May against

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

in the

Clydesdale Bank 40 The ECB40, last known as the Yorkshire Bank 40 (YB40) for sponsorship reasons, was a forty-over limited overs cricket competition for the English first-class counties. It began in the 2010 English cricket season as a replacement for the Pro40 a ...

. He made a second appearance in that competition for Warwickshire against Durham. In July 2011, Best joined

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

on loan for the remainder of that season. He made a single County Championship appearance against

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

, as well as four List A appearances in the Clydesdale Bank 40.

International career

Prior to playing first-class cricket, Best played for England Under-19s, making his debut against Bangladesh Under-19s during their tour of

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. Best captained the team during this tour. He later played for the team in the 2010 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand, though the team was captained on this occasion by

Azeem Rafiq Azeem Rafiq ( ur, عظیم رفیق; born 27 February 1991) is a British Asian cricketer who played professionally in England for Yorkshire County Cricket Club. A right arm off-spin bowler, Rafiq played for the county between 2008 and 2014 and 20 ...

. Best captained England Under-19s against Sri Lanka Under-19s during the 2010 season in one Test, five Youth One Day Internationals and two Youth Twenty20 International matches. He was named 'Man of the Series' in the One Day games. In total, Best made two Youth

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

, twelve Youth

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

and two Youth

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

appearances.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Best, Paul 1991 births Living people Cricketers from Coventry People educated at Bablake School English cricketers Warwickshire cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Northamptonshire cricketers Cambridge MCCU cricketers Alumni of Homerton College, Cambridge