Ellis Achong

Infobox Historic Cricketer


nationality = West Indian
country = West Indies
country abbrev = WI
name = Puss Achong
picture = Cricket_no_pic.pngbatting style = Left hand bat
bowling style = Slow left arm orthodox Slow left arm chinaman
tests = 6
test runs = 81
test bat avg = 8.09
test 100s/50s = -/-
test top score = 22
test balls = 918
test wickets = 8
test bowl avg = 47.25
test 5s = -
test 10s = -
test best bowling = 2/64
test catches/stumpings = 6/-
FCs = 38
FC runs = 503
FC bat avg = 14.37
FC 100s/50s = -/-
FC top score = 45*
FC balls = 7799
FC wickets = 110
FC bowl avg = 30.23
FC 5s = 3
FC 10s = 1
FC best bowling = 7/73
FC catches/stumpings = 20/-
debut date = 17 March
debut year = 1954
last date = 17 March
last year = 1954
source = http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/51098.html

Ellis Edgar ("Puss") Achong (16 February 1904 – 29 August 1986) was a sportsman from Trinidad and Tobago in the West Indies. He is perhaps best known as a cricketer for the West Indies cricket team, and was the first cricketer of Chinese descent to play Test cricket. Left-arm unorthodox spin (left-arm wrist spin) is sometimes known as "slow left-arm chinamen" (SLC) in his honour.

Achong was born in Belmont, Port of Spain. He played football as a left wing for a local team, Maple, in the 1920s and 1930s, and represented Trinidad and Tobago from 1919 to 1932.

Achong is better known for playing cricket. He was mainly a bowler. His stock ball was left-arm orthodox spin (left-arm finger spin), but one of his variations was unorthodox left-arm spin. After bowling this variation to have Walter Robins stumped at Old Trafford in 1933, it is reputed that Robins said to the umpire Joe Hardstaff Sr., "fancy being done by a bloody Chinaman ". Learie Constantine is said to have replied: "Do you mean the bowler or the ball?" An unorthodox left-arm spin delivery (spinning from the off side to the leg side for a right-handed batsman) is known as a "Chinaman" as a result. However, Achong was not the earliest recorded Test match player to bowl unorthodox left-arm spin – that is believed to be Charles Llewellyn of South Africa. And the connection between Achong and the term "chinaman" is not proven: for an alternative explanation of the term, see the Wikipedia article on left-arm unorthodox spin.

Achong played in six Test matches for the West Indies against the English cricket team from 1930 to 1935, three in the West Indies and three in the 1933 tour of England. In all, Achong took eight Test wickets at a bowling average of 47.25, but his Test figures belie his much greater success at regional level in the West Indies. After his last Test match, he continued to play cricket in the Lancashire Leagues until 1951, taking over 1,000 wickets, including 10 in an innings for Burnley against Todmorden in 1945.

Achong returned to Trinidad and Tobago in 1952, and stood as a Test umpire in the 4th Test between West Indies and England at Port of Spain in March 1953, a high-scoring draw in which West Indies scored an imposing 681 for 8 declared, with the 3 "W"s (Everton Weekes, Frank Worrell and Clyde Walcott) all scoring centuries in West Indies' first innings, and Peter May and Denis Compton doing the same in England's 537 in reply. Achong ultimately became a sports coach with the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Education, coaching and selecting the Trinidad and Tobago cricket team. He died aged 82 in St. Augustine.

External links

*cricinfo|ref=ci/content/player/51098.html
* [http://usa.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/ARTICLES/PLAYERS/THE_ORIGINAL_CHINAMAN_SEP95 Cricinfo - The Original Chinaman]
* [http://bestoftrinidad.com/soccer/achongE.html Best of Trinidad and Tobago]
* [http://www.cricket-forum.net/cricket/Left_arm_wrist_spinners_732396.html Forum discussion]