Cricket is a game which includes a variety of different types of bowling, and at the same time, it is a game that has vast varieties of bowlers from pace to spin. But do you know about Chinaman Bowling?
Rarely have the cricket world witnessed an Indian spinner, Kuldeep Yadav, and that too, not the other way round.
What really is Chinaman bowling? And where and when did the term originate? We will look into the details of Chinaman bowling in cricket through this article.
Chinaman Bowling
Chinaman bowling, however, is characterized by a left-arm bowler who spins or applies unorthodox spin with his wrist. The left-arm wrist spinners or left-arm unorthodox bowlers are referred to as Chinaman bowlers. This type of bowling is directly opposite to that of a right-arm leg spinner’s leg-break delivery.
So, what’s the distinguishing line between a left-arm orthodox spinner and a Chinaman bowler?
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A left-arm orthodox spinner turns the ball away from the right-hand batter while the Chinaman bowler turns the ball towards him. In other words, this delivery of a Chinaman bowler spins from off side to leg side, which leaves the batter perplexed.
Nevertheless, as time goes on, the Chinaman bowing may become predictable, thus the batters can begin to take advantage of the bowlers. To keep the batsman guessing, apart from that, a Chinaman bowler may possess a googly that turns the other way (i.e., away from the right-hand batter). This variation can make Chinaman bowlers more proficient at deceiving the batters.
The Origin Story of Chinaman Bowling
Let us go back to 1933 when a remarkable tale unfolded. A player of Chinese origin, Ellis “Puss” Achong, made his debut for the West Indies as the first Test cricketer from the Chinese community.
In an unforeseen turn of events, during a Test match between the West Indies and England at Old Trafford, the English batsman Walter Robins was completely baffled when Achong’s wrist spin ball, which was coming down the line of the off stump, suddenly moved over to the leg stump line. Robins was unable to comprehend the ball properly and consequently, he was stumped by the wicketkeeper.
After being completely mystified by that delivery, Robins told the umpire, “Fancy being done by a bloody Chinaman,” while walking back to the pavilion.
And thus, the term Chinaman was born, my friend, which went on to denote a certain class of bowlers.
Famous Chinaman Bowlers in Cricket
Kuldeep Yadav is one of the rarest modern-day Chinaman bowlers who has imprinted his name in the history of cricket. Many batsmen in his left-arm wrist spin batting have become cross-eyed finally, due to his being completely and thoroughly stunning and dazzling.
Besides Kuldeep, Paul Adams of South Africa was another important Chinaman bowler. His odd bowling delivery took many players by surprise, and he had a long and fruitful bowling career with the Proteas, taking 134 wickets in Test matches and 29 in ODIs.
An additional cricketer who had an amazing career as a Chinaman is Brad Hogg from Australia. His unusual bowling style confused the batsmen and thereby, he got a reputation not only in the international arena but also in T20 franchise leagues.
