Top 5 Chinaman bowlers the world has seen

#1 Brad Hogg

Brad Hogg seems to go on and on forever

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.

Compton taking a catch off his own bowlin

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.

Michael Bevan

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.