Early cricket

Bess made his debut for Guyana in January 2008, playing in a Carib Beer Cup match against Trinidad and Tobago. He played only one further match in the 2007–08 season.^[1] He played more regularly in 2008–09, and appeared for West Indies A against the touring England XI, claiming a solitary wicket.^[2] The season also saw him make his first appearances in List A cricket, playing two matches for Guyana in November 2008.^[3]

His best bowling figures came early in the 2009–10 season, when he claimed four wickets in the first innings against Jamaica.^[4] He completed 2009–10 with a bowling average of 33.69, his best season average.^[5] His performances saw him appear for the West Indies A against the Zimbabweans in April 2010.^[1]

Test call-up

During the 2010 home series against South Africa, Bess made a surprise debut. Nelon Pascal, himself in the team for the missing Ravi Rampaul,^[6] suffered a neck injury during the pre-match warm-up exercises. Bess, who was training at the High Performance Centre in Bridgetown was rushed to the ground,^[7] not arriving until the second over of the match.^[8] Bess, who came into the game with a first-class bowling average of 48.80, opened the bowling for the West Indies, but saw opposition captain Graeme Smith score three boundaries off his first over.^[8] He was taken off after his second over as Chris Gayle turned to spinner Shane Shillingford.^[9] He returned in the twentieth over, and claimed the wicket of nightwatchman Paul Harris. He continued to bowl expensively, with 65 runs coming off the 9 overs that he bowled in the first innings. Cricinfo's Siddhartha Talya was unimpressed with his performance:^[10]

...and Bess adding to the frustration with his indiscipline with the second new-ball. He bowled seven no-balls, provided width, strayed on the pads and dropped short to be dealt with each time by the batsmen who gradually had begun to loosen up.