Left-arm unorthodox spin

Last updated
Trajectory of a left-arm unorthodox spin delivery Left Hand Off Spin Bowling Animation.gif
Trajectory of a left-arm unorthodox spin delivery

Left-arm unorthodox spin, also known as slow left-arm wrist spin, is a type of spin bowling in the sport of cricket. Left-arm unorthodox spin bowlers use wrist spin to spin the ball, and make it deviate, or 'turn' from left to right after pitching. [1] The direction of turn is the same as that of a traditional right-handed off spin bowler, although the ball will usually turn more sharply due to the spin being imparted predominantly by the wrist.

Contents

Some left-arm unorthodox bowlers also bowl the equivalent of a googly, or 'wrong'un', which turns from right to left on the pitch. The ball turns away from the right-handed batsman, as if the bowler were an orthodox left-arm spinner. The delivery was sometimes historically called a chinaman.

Notable left-arm unorthodox spin bowlers

The first cricketer known to bowl the style of delivery was 19th-century South African bowler Charlie Llewellyn. [1] [2] [3] Llewellyn toured North America with Bernard Bosanquet, the originator of the googly delivery, and it is likely that Llewellyn learned the googly-style of delivery from him, bowling it with his left-arm. [3]

Among noted players who have bowled the delivery are Denis Compton, who originally bowled orthodox slow-left arm deliveries but developed left-arm wrist spin, taking most of his 622 first-class wickets using the delivery. [4] [5] Chuck Fleetwood-Smith used the delivery in the 1930s, including in his 10 Test matches. [6] Although better known for fast bowling and orthodox slow left-arm, Garfield Sobers could also use it to good effect. [1] In cricket's modern era, Australian Brad Hogg brought the delivery to wider notice [1] and had one of the most well-disguised wrong'uns. [7] Kuldeep Yadav, who debuted for India in March 2017, bowls left-arm wrist spin, [8] [9] and Paul Adams played 45 Test matches and 24 One-day internationals for South Africa between 1995 and 2004 using the delivery. [1] [9] Michael Bevan and Dave Mohammed are also considered to be "among the better known" bowlers to use the style. [1]

In 2021 The Guardian claimed that Kuldeep, Tabraiz Shamsi of South Africa and the Afghan bowler Noor Ahmad were "probably the foremost left-arm wrist-spinners in world cricket", [10] while in 2022 Michael Rippon was reported as "the first specialist left-arm wristspinner" to play for New Zealand. [11] In the women's game, Kary Chan of Hong Kong uses left-arm wrist spin deliveries. [12]

Instances of left-arm unorthodox spinners taking a ten-wicket haul in a Test match are rare. Examples include Chuck Fleetwood-Smith against England in 1936–37, [13] Michael Bevan against the West Indies in 1996–97, [14] and Paul Adams against Bangladesh in 2002–03. [15]

In 2007 CricInfo suggested that left-arm wrist-spin bowlers are uncommon because it is "difficult to control left-arm wrist spin. And [...] the ball coming in to a right-hander is considered less dangerous than the one leaving him". [1] A left-arm wrist spin bowler's standard delivery will turn towards a right-handed batsman, as opposed to a right-arm leg spin bowler who will turn the ball away from them. In 2024 Cameron Ponsonby reiterated this view on The Final Word podcast, stating in jest of the success of Kuldeep Yadav,

"The hardest thing in the world, in this sport, is to bowl wrist spin. The reason why right arm leg spin works and is effective is because it spins the ball away from the bat. That's the positive. The negative side of that is you have less control. [...] What's bad about off spin? You spin the ball into the right-hander. What's good about off spin? You have control. Left arm wrist spin: what's good about it? Nothing, because you spin the ball into the right-hander without control." [16] [17]

Historical use of the term 'chinaman'

Historically the term "chinaman" was sometimes used to describe the googly delivery or other unusual deliveries, whether bowled by right or left-arm bowlers. [18] The left-arm wrist spinner's delivery that is the equivalent of the googly eventually became known as the "chinaman".

The origin of the term is unclear, although it is known to have been in use in Yorkshire during the 1920s and may have been first used in reference to Roy Kilner. [a] [9] [21] It is possible that it is a guarded reference to Charlie Llewellyn, the first left-arm bowler to bowl the equivalent of the googly. [b] [23] It is first known to have been used in print in The Guardian in 1926 in reference to the possibility of Yorkshire bowler George Macaulay bowling a googly, [c] but the term became more widely used after a Test match between England and West Indies at Old Trafford in 1933. Ellis Achong, a player of Chinese origin who bowled slow left-arm orthodox spin, had Walter Robins stumped off an orthodox delivery. As he walked back to the pavilion, had Walter Robins stumped off a surprise delivery that spun into the right-hander from outside the off stump. As he walked back to the pavilion, Robins reportedly said to the umpire, "fancy being done by a bloody Chinaman!", [9] [24] [25] leading to the more widespread use of the term. [2]

In 2017, Australian journalist Andrew Wu, who is of Chinese descent, raised concerns about the use of the term as "racially offensive", [24] arguing the term itself "has historically been used in a contemptuous manner to describe the Chinese". [24] Wisden formally changed their wording of the term to slow left-arm wrist-spin in the 2018 edition of the Almanack, describing chinaman as "no longer appropriate". [2] [23] [26] CricInfo followed suit in 2021, noting that although some argued that its use in cricket "was not meant to be derogatory", that its continued use was inappropriate. [27] Some writers continue to use the term. [d]

Notes

  1. ↑ Kilner bowled slow left-arm orthodox deliveries rather than wrist spin. Although it is possible that the term was first used either by Kilner or in reference to his bowling, it was not used by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 1924 when he was one of their five Cricketers of the Year or in his 1929 obituary. [19] [20]
  2. ↑ Llewellyn had a white father and a mother who had been born on St Helena. [22] She was described as "black" by historian Rowland Bowen, although it is possible that she was from a Madagascan or Indian background. Andy Carter has suggested that there could be a link between Llewellyn's mixed-race heritage and the use of the term "chinaman". [23]
  3. ↑ Macaulay was a right-arm bowler who did not bowl wrist spin deliveries.
  4. ↑ For example, the term remained in use to describe Kuldeep Yadav in the Hindustan Times [28] and The Indian Express in 2021. [29]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leg spin</span> Type of spin bowling in cricket

Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called a leg spinner. Leg spinners bowl with their right-arm and a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery is called a leg break, which spins from right to left when the ball bounces on the pitch. For a right-handed batter, the ball breaks towards them from the leg side, hence the name 'leg break'.

The flipper is a particular bowling delivery used in cricket, generally by a leg spin bowler. In essence it is a back spin ball. Squeezed out of the front of the hand with the thumb and first and second fingers, it keeps deceptively low after pitching and can accordingly be very difficult to play. The flipper is comparable to a riseball in fast-pitch softball.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Off spin</span> Type of bowling in cricket

Off spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners bowl with their right-arm and a finger spin action. Their normal delivery is called an off break, which spins from left to right when the ball bounces on the pitch. For a right-handed batsman, the ball breaks towards them from the off side, hence the name 'off break'.

A googly, also known as a wrong'un or Bosie, is a type of delivery in the game of cricket bowled by a right-arm leg spin bowler. It is different from the normal delivery for a leg-spin bowler in that it is turning the other way. The googly is not a variation of the typical off spin type of delivery, in that the cricket ball is presented from the bowler's hand in such a way that once the ball pitches; instead, it deviates in the opposite direction of a leg spinning type of delivery. It has also been colloquially referred to as the wrong'un, Bosie or Bosey, with the latter two eponyms referring to Bernard Bosanquet, the bowler who originally devised and began using the googly. He first employed it in July 1900, during the second innings of a County Championship match between Middlesex and Leicestershire at Lord's. In that game, Sam Coe became the first batter known to have been dismissed by a googly. During the Edwardian era, some considered its use to be an example of cheating.

A topspinner is a type of delivery bowled by a cricketer bowling either wrist spin or finger spin. In either case, the bowler imparts the ball with top spin by twisting it with his or her fingers prior to delivery. In both cases, the topspinner is the halfway house between the stock delivery and the wrong'un - in the wrist spinner's case his googly, and in the finger spinner's case his doosra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glossary of cricket terms</span>

This is a general glossary of the terminology used in the sport of cricket. Where words in a sentence are also defined elsewhere in this article, they appear in italics. Certain aspects of cricket terminology are explained in more detail in cricket statistics and the naming of fielding positions is explained at fielding (cricket).

A doosra is a particular type of delivery by an off-spin bowler in cricket. The doosra spins in the opposite direction to an off break, and aims to confuse the batter into playing an unavoidable shot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spin bowling</span> Bowling technique in cricket

Spin bowling is a bowling technique in cricket, in which the ball is delivered relatively slowly but with rapid rotation, giving it the potential to deviate sharply after bouncing. A bowler who uses this technique is called a spinner, a spin bowler, or a slow bowler.

In the sport of cricket there are two broad categories of bowlers: pace and spin. Pace bowlers rely mostly on the speed of the ball to dismiss batsmen, whereas spin bowlers rely on the rotation and turn off the ball to deceive the batter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Dennett</span> English cricketer

Edward George Dennett was a left arm spinner for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club between 1903 and 1926, and from his figures could be considered one of the best bowlers to never play Test cricket. His career of 2,147 first-class wickets puts him 23rd on the all-time list of wicket-takers, and only Glamorgan's Don Shepherd took more wickets without being capped. Owing to the strength of the competition at the time, Dennett was never able to progress even to lower representative levels. Dennett also failed to be nominated as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year, and only Worcestershire’s Reg Perks took more first-class wickets without ever being chosen.

The Ball of the Century, also referred to as the Gatting Ball or simply That Ball, is a cricket delivery bowled by Australian spin bowler Shane Warne to English batter Mike Gatting on 4 June 1993, the second day of the first Test of the 1993 Ashes series, at Old Trafford in Manchester. With his first ball against England, in his first Ashes Test, Warne produced a spectacular delivery that bowled Gatting out. It became recognised as being of significance not just in the context of the match, but more generally in signalling a revival of leg spin bowling.

Charles Stowell "Father" Marriott was an English cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Lancashire, Cambridge University and Kent. Marriott played between 1919 and 1938 and was considered one of the best leg-break and googly bowlers of the time. He went on to teach, having served during World War I in the British Army.

Wrist spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket. It refers to the cricket technique and specific hand movements associated with imparting a particular direction of spin to the cricket ball. The other spinning technique, usually used to spin the ball in the opposite direction, is finger spin. Wrist spin is bowled by releasing the ball from the back of the hand, so that it passes over the little finger. Done by a right-handed bowler, this imparts an anticlockwise rotation to the ball, as seen from the bowler's perspective; a left-handed wrist spinner rotates the ball clockwise.

Finger spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket. It refers to the technique and specific hand movements associated with imparting a particular direction of spin to the cricket ball. The other spinning technique, generally used to spin the ball in the opposite direction, is wrist spin. Although there are exceptions, finger spinners generally turn the ball less than wrist spinners. However, because the technique is simpler and easier to master, finger spinners tend to be more accurate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurice Leyland</span> English cricketer (1900–1967)

Maurice Leyland was an English international cricketer who played 41 Test matches between 1928 and 1938. In first-class cricket, he represented Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1920 and 1946, scoring over 1,000 runs in 17 consecutive seasons. A left-handed middle-order batsman and occasional left-arm spinner, Leyland was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1929.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Mitchell</span> English cricketer (1902–1996)

Thomas Bignall Mitchell was an English first-class cricketer who played for Derbyshire between 1928 and 1939.

Throwing, commonly referred to as chucking, is an illegal bowling action in the sport of cricket. This occurs when a bowler straightens the bowling arm when delivering the ball. Throws are not allowed when a bowler bowls to a batsman. If the umpire deems that the ball has been thrown, they will call a no-ball, which means the batsman cannot be given out from that delivery.

In cricket, a slider is a type of delivery bowled by a wrist spin bowler. While a topspinner is released with the thumb facing the batter, a slider is bowled in a similar manner to a legbreak, but instead of imparting sidespin with the third finger, the bowler allows his fingers to roll down the back of the ball, providing a mixture of sidespin and backspin. Whereas a topspinner tends to dip more quickly and bounce higher than a normal delivery, a slider does the opposite: it carries to a fuller length and bounces less than the batter might expect. The sliders will typically head towards the batter with a scrambled seam. This has less effect on the flight and bounce but absence of leg spin may deceive the batter. Frequently the slider is bowled with a mixture of side spin and backspin. This has the effect of making the ball harder to differentiate from the leg break for the batters without reducing the mechanical effects caused by the backspin. This delivery may skid straight on or it may turn a small amount.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Bosanquet (cricketer)</span> English cricketer (1877–1936)

Bernard James Tindal Bosanquet was an English cricketer best known for inventing the googly, a delivery designed to deceive the batsman. When bowled, it appears to be a leg break, but after pitching the ball turns in the opposite direction to that which is expected, behaving as an off break instead. Bosanquet, who played first-class cricket for Middlesex between 1898 and 1919, appeared in seven Test matches for England as an all-rounder. He was chosen as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1905.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kuldeep Yadav</span> Indian cricketer (born 1994)

Kuldeep Yadav is an Indian international cricketer. A left-arm unorthodox spinner, he plays for Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket and Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League. He was an integral member of the Indian team that won the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Leggie in the mirror, CricInfo, 22 November 2007. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Rubaid Iftekhar (25 June 2020) The 'Chinaman mystery': Racism and left-arm leg-spin, The Business Standard . Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  3. 1 2 Carter A (2019) Beyond the Pale: early black and asian cricketers in Britain 1868–1945, p.74. Leicester: Troubador. ISBN   9781838592028 (Available online. Retrieved 14 August 2021.)
  4. ↑ Denis Compton, Obituary, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack , 1998. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  5. ↑ Arlott J (1988) The great entertainer, Wisden Cricket Monthly, May 1988. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  6. ↑ Fleetwood-Smith, Leslie O'Brien, Obituaries in 1971, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack , 1972. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  7. ↑ Dorries B (20 March 2014) Aussie spinner Brad Hogg admits he didn’t know what wrong-un was early in his career, The Courier Mail . Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  8. ↑ Kuldeep Yadav, CricInfo. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Bull A (18 March 2017) Isn't it about time cricket consigned 'chinaman' to the past?, The Guardian . Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  10. ↑ Liew J (23 July 2021) Jake Lintott reviving English left-arm wrist-spin after half a century The Guardian . Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  11. ↑ Michael Rippon becomes first left-arm wristspinner picked by New Zealand CricInfo , 21 June 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  12. ↑ Kary Chan CricInfo . Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  13. ↑ Full Scorecard of Australia vs England 4th Test 1936-7, CricInfo . Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  14. ↑ Full Scorecard of West Indies vs Australia 4th test, 1996/97, CricInfo . Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  15. ↑ Full Scorecard of Bangladesh vs South Africa 1st Test 2002-3 CricInfo . Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  16. ↑ "India England Daily 2024 - Dharamsala Day 1". Apple Podcasts. The Final Word Cricket Podcast. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  17. ↑ "The Final Word on X: "Left-arm wrist spinners are the result of people who have made poor life decisions. / X". X. The Final Word (@Final_Word_Pod). Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  18. ↑ Carter, op. cit., pp.75–76.
  19. ↑ Bowler of the Year: Roy Kilner, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack , 1924. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  20. ↑ Roy Kilner, Obituary, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack , 1929. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  21. ↑ Maurice Leyland, Obituary, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack , 1968. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  22. ↑ Carter, op. cit., pp.69–70.
  23. 1 2 3 Carter, op. cit, p.76.
  24. 1 2 3 Andrew Wu (26 March 2017) Australia v India Test series 2017: Does cricket really need to continue using the term 'chinaman'?, The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  25. ↑ The Original Chinaman, CricInfo, 31 August 1995. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  26. ↑ Wisden replaces Chinaman with slow left-arm wrist-spin bowlers, CricketCountry, 12 April 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  27. ↑ Bal S (16 April 2021) Why we're replacing 'batsman' with 'batter', CricInfo. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  28. ↑ Samyal SK (19 July 2021) Kuldeep Yadav finds his rhythm in opening Sri Lanka ODI win, Hindustan Times . Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  29. ↑ Sandip G (12 February 2021) India vs England: No room for Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, The Indian Express . Retrieved 15 August 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.