Mildenhall skipper Ben Shepperson can’t wait to unleash West Indies fast bowler Tino Best on East Anglian Premier League batsmen this season.

Best (35) has agreed to play for the newly-promoted club until the end of July, before returning to play in the Caribbean Premier League.

Best, who has 25 Tests and 26 One-Day internationals under his belt, and has played for Hampshire and Yorkshire, could feature in Mildenhall’s season opener at home to Vauxhall Mallards, on Saturday.

Shepperson said: “Tino is experienced and it’s not all about playing the game in the head.

“We want to use his raw ability to get things done and utilise his energy levels which allow him to bowl fast and take wickets.

“We want to get him fighting people and be fired up, which he seems to be as a person.

“When you get someone of Tino’s calibre, you need to cash in on that.”

Best has taken 330 First-Class wickets during a 15-year career and was keen to come to Suffolk.

“We were getting in touch with every agent we knew (to bring in an overseas player) and we could have had some pretty good players,” explained Shepperson, who also has Essex’s Tom Westley at his disposal this season.

“But as soon as I saw the name Tino Best I got pretty excited as a captain and, having met him, he seems to be a real team man who was very keen to get involved.

Best, who will also represent Lashings this year, will boost an attack already bolstered by Pakistan bowler, Murtaza Hussain’s arrival.

“He (Hussain) is another experienced player who is 41 or 42 now, but with around 600 First-Class wickets you can’t do much more than that,” Shepperson enthused.

“We also have Peter Worthington in the attack and they (Best, Hussain and Worthington) are the three oldest players in the team, but they may possibly make the biggest impact and help the six or seven younger players, including myself, who are full of energy.”

The new season marks a step up for Mildenhall, who were promoted from the Two-Counties Division last season.

“Anyone in the club would say that if we finish 11th out of 12 we will have had a successful season,” revealed Shepperson.

“The first team players would be OK with that, but not happy, and we believe we have enough match-winners to cause some real upsets.”