The emergence of Lakshan Sandakan in the ongoing Sri Lanka-Australia Test series has again put the spotlight on the rare art of bowling of left-arm unorthodox spin, which is also called as “chinaman”. The 25-year-old joined a very niche list of chinaman bowlers to have played international cricket.
There is no Indian on this list – though the Indian Premier League has seen two young Indian bowlers – Kuldeep Yadav and Shivil Kaushik (along with South African Tabraiz Shamsi, who recently also made his ODI debut) - showcase their chinaman bowling skills against some of the best batsmen in world cricket.
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The origins of this art of bowling and also the name can be traced back to Ellis Achong who played 8 Tests for the West Indies in the 1930s. Achong, the first cricketer of Chinese origin to play Tests, was essentially a left-arm orthodox spinner (spun the ball from right to left of the pitch from bowler’s perspective) but in a Test against England in Manchester in 1933, while bowling to Walter Robbins, he bowled with a wrist spinner action and produced a delivery that spun into the right-hander from outside the off-stump.
Robbins was stumped off the surprise delivery and while walking back to the pavilion he reportedly told the umpire “Fancy being done by a bloody Chinaman”. This led to the term chinaman becoming famous worldwide and left arm unorthodox spin bowlers came to be referred to as chinaman bowlers.
We look at some of the best chinaman bowlers that world cricket has seen:
#5 Sir Garfield Sobers
The great Garry Sobers is considered by many as the finest all-rounder ever in cricket. A majestic batsman with a phenomenal record and also a brilliant fielder, but his bowling was of the highest quality as well.
He could have made it to the West Indian side purely as a bowler, too, as he took 235 wickets in his distinguished Test career.
Sobers started off as a left-arm orthodox spinner but showed his versatility by adding the left arm fast-medium and chinaman bowling styles to his repertoire. He used chinaman and googlies with wrist spin to good effect on spin friendly pitches especially on the tours to India.
Apart from Achong and Sobers, West Indies have seen another chinaman, Dave Mohammed, represent the team for a brief period in the 2000s.
#4 Johnny Wardle
The Englishman is considered as one of the most skillful left-arm spinners in the history of the game and can be considered a bit unlucky to have played only 28 Tests because Tony Lock (who bowled orthodox left-arm spin) was often preferred to him.
While Wardle also bowled classical orthodox left-arm like Lock, he also possessed a potent chinaman, which he used especially when playing for England – with his county team Yorkshire preferring him bowling the conventional style.
Having the ability to bowl wrist spinners that turned and bounced sharply, Wardle used the chinaman to good effect on the tour to South Africa in 1956-57 in which he took 26 wickets in 4 Tests at an average of 13.81 and overall 90 wickets on the entire tour.
Wardle, the only chinaman bowler from England to play Tests till date, finished his amazing career with an incredible tally of 1846 first-class wickets, and also 102 Test wickets (which were taken at a miserly average of 20.39 – one of the lowest in Test cricket post the First World War).
#3 Paul Adams
The left-arm unorthodox spin bowler with an even more unorthodox bowling action, Paul Adams arrived on the world cricket scene as a teenager in 1995-96 season and surprised everyone with his “frog in a blender action”.
Adams enjoyed a successful first year in international cricket as batsmen were left confused by his action and struggled against his chinaman bowling. However, as time went on the South African lost the element of surprise with his action and the lack of variety in his bowling meant that batsmen became accustomed to Adams’ action and his struggles were compounded by injuries.
The emergence of Nicky Boje further reduced Adams’ involvement with the national side and the chinaman bowler played his last Test for the Proteas in 2004 to finish with 134 Test wickets (off 45 matches) and 29 ODI wickets (off 24 matches).
Not many believed the “frog in a blender” action would be seen again in top level of cricket. However, it did make a return through Indian youngster Shivil Kaushik who represented Gujarat Lions in the 2016 edition of the Indian Premier League.
#2 Chuck Fleetwood-Smith
A prodigious turner of the cricket ball, Chuck Fleetwood-Smith took 42 wickets for Australia in 10 Tests between 1935 and 1938. It is said that Fleetwood-Smith was ambidextrous and after breaking his right arm while in school, he came up with the unconventional bowling action with the other arm.
The left-arm wrist spinner took 597 first-class wickets and it is widely believed that he would have played many more games for the side, but for the competition in the form of Bill O'Reilly and Clarrie Grimmett.
However, Fleetwood-Smith did make his mark for the Australian side by playing a key role in helping the Don Bradman led side turn-around 0-2 deficit in the 1937 Ashes to win 3-2.
The dismissal of Wally Hammond in the fourth Test is often spoken of to be in the same league as that of Shane Warne’s that dismissal of Mike Gatting. Bradman later described the wicket as “If ever the result of a Test match can be said to have been decided by a single ball, this was the occasion.”
#1 Brad Hogg
Arguably the most successful chinaman bowler in the history of world cricket, Brad Hogg was a key member of the 2003 and 2007 World Cup winning Australian sides. With an excellent flipper (as Andy Flower found out in 2003 World Cup) and a very potent wrong one, Hogg continues to mesmerize the batsmen in the various T20 leagues he continues to participate in at the age of 45!
A middle order batsman in his formative years, Hogg’s first tryst with wrist spin was when he was asked to bowl with the action in the nets to help his Western Australia teammates prepare to play New South Wales spinner David Freedman.
Having made an uneventful debut for Australia as a stand-in for the missing Shane Warne in 1996, Hogg continued to be behind the flamboyant leg-spinner for the spinner’s slot in the side.
Ironically, it was Warne’s expulsion from the side due to a positive test of a banned diuretic just before the 2003 World Cup, which helped Hogg get an extended run in the team and the canny spinner cemented his spot and became an integral member of the side.
Special mention: Denis Compton & Michael Bevan
Though both Denis Compton and Michael Bevan were included in their national teams (England and Australia respectively) primarily as batsmen, both were more than handy exponents of the chinaman, and could contribute with the ball whenever required.
The batting feats of the legendary Compton are well documented, but not many know that he was a very handy bowler too and scaled 622 wickets in his first-class career and 25 Test wickets which also includes a 5 wicket haul.
More known for his batting skills – especially in high pressure run chases - Bevan was a reluctant bowler but encouragement from captain Mark Taylor helped him develop into an effective bowling option for the Aussie side. He boasts of a 10 wicket haul in his relatively short Test career, and often provided variety to the strong Aussie bowling attack in ODIs.
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