Tino Best: I became a playboy, slept with 500-650 women

In an extract from his upcoming autobiography ‘Mind the Windows’, published on English daily Daily Mail, West Indian fast bowler Tino Best has claimed that he has slept with 500-650 women during his international cricketing career. The 34-year-old has also jokingly referred to himself as the “black Brad Pitt”.

Known for numerous controversies during his career, the title of the autobiography is from Andrew Flintoff’s famous sledge against him in 2004 when the English all-rounder mocked Best’s love for a slog and told him to mind the windows while going for big shots. The tactic worked as Best went for a slog and was stumped for just 3.

In his book, Best says: “I love girls – and girls love me. I reckon I'm the best-looking bald-headed guy in the world. I joke about being the black Brad Pitt! Everywhere I went as a cricketer, I'd talk to girls, date girls and sleep with girls. I reckon I've slept with anywhere between 500 and 650 girls, all around the world.”

Best also mentions that he turned into a playboy once his relationship with Melissa, with whom he has a child, broke down.

“I had a beautiful baby called Tamani with my first love Melissa but things went bad with us. The lads had told me that, once I took wickets for Barbados, she'd come running back for me. I had done just that but she hadn't. When she called it a day, I became a bit of a playboy. Put it this way: I was a man whore,” he said.

In his autobiography, Best also speaks about West Indian batsman Chris Gayle, who opened a strip club at home last year. The pacer maintains that despite his lifestyle, Gayle doesn’t indulge in a lot of bad stuff.

“There was a news story that came out in September 2015 when Chris Gayle went on Instagram to post about his strip club. He put up a picture and wrote, 'From the pool to the strip club...if u don't have a strip club at home, U ain't a cricket 'Player' .. I always make sure my guest well entertained and feel like they are at home #LifeIsForLiving #DreamBig.'

“Now, Chris is good fun but he doesn't indulge in too much bad stuff. He's a good man, Chris. The most fun on a night out is Dwayne Bravo. We complemented each other very well when we played for the West Indies together. I'll give him an award now: he's the best wingman going,” he said.

The right-arm pacer hasn’t played for the West Indies since January 2014. In 25 Tests and 26 ODIs, he picked up 57 and 34 wickets respectively.

The entire extract from the autobiography can be found here.