SK Glossary: What is Chinaman Bowling in cricket?

Sounds like Shaolin Cricket, but is actually not; let’s have a look.

So what is Chinaman bowling?

Essentially the mirror image right-arm leg break bowler (wrist spinner), a Chinaman is a delivery that, when bowled over the wrist by a left-arm spinner, spins away from a left-handed batsman or into a right-handed batsman; i.e. from left to right, as viewed on your screens. The rarity of these bowlers stems from the fact that most batsmen are right handed and that the delivery coming into the right-hander is generally perceived to be easier to play than the one going away.

Chinaman's delivery vs Leg spinner's delivery

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Origin

The origins are a mystery, with two people attributed to the Chinaman. Firstly, South African all-rounder, Charlie Llewellyn, who played around the end of the 19th century, claimed to have invented the delivery itself.

But the origin of the term itself is generally believed to be associated with former West Indian spinner Ellis “Puss” Achong; the first test player of Chinese ancestry. History has it that in the 1933 Old Trafford Test, after bowling West Indies out for 375, English batsman Walter Robins joined his captain Douglas Jardine at the crease at a precocious 324/6. The pair added 140 runs before Achong, who was a left-arm spinner, bowled a mystery wrist-spin delivery that spun back sharply into English batsman Walter Robins and had him stumped. On his way back to the pavilion, a bemused Robins is said to have remarked, Fancy being done by a bloody Chinaman.

Learie Constantine, who was fighting against racism at the time, was taken aback by the comment and asked Robins, “Do you mean the bowler or the ball?” We all know what he meant. And thus, the term Chinaman was coined.

Variation

Just like a traditional right arm leg spinner, the Chinaman bowler has a googly where the ball pitches and spins into a left-handed batsman or away from a right-handed batsman.

How to bowl it?

Do you fancy being a left arm spinner and want to bowl the Chinaman? Here’s how you can:

First, place the top-most joints of the index, middle and third fingers across the seam and rest the ball between a bent pinky and the thumb.

During release, the fingers must straighten and the work on the ball will be done by the third finger, turning the ball clockwise (counter-clockwise if seen front on)

The wrist must be flicked so as to finish having the palm facing downwards.

An amphibian Chinaman?

In 1995, South African Chinaman bowler Paul Adams made his test debut and made headlines; not for his bowling exploits but for his unusual action. So strange was his action that it was likened to a “frog-in-a-blender” by English batsman Mike Gatting after he bamboozled English batsmen in a tour match.

Chinaman Bowling Experts

Rare as they are, some of the famous practitioners of the Chinaman are Sir Garfield Sobers (West Indies), Paul Adams (South Africa), Michael Bevan and Brad Hogg (both Australia)

Kuldeep Yadav, who made his IPL debut for the Kolkata Knight Riders against the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2016, is the first Chinaman bowler to be picked for the Indian Cricket Team.

Tabraiz Shamsi who replaced Samuel Badree in RCB line-up is also a Chinaman bowler.