Walter Robins

Dr. Kishore played cricket during his high school and college years. He represented his college in inter-collegiate competitions. He is an all-rounder but best known for his Left-arm unorthodox spin, or chinaman, a type of bowling in the sport of cricket.

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Left-arm unorthodox spin bowlers use a wrist hand action to spin the ball which turns from off to leg side of the cricket pitch. The direction of turn is the same as that of a traditional right-handed off spin bowler; however, the ball will usually turn more sharply due to the spin being imparted predominantly by the wrist.

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In cricketing parlance, the word “chinaman” is used to describe the stock delivery of a left-arm “unorthodox” spin bowler. The name has its origins in a Test match played between the West Indies and England at Old Trafford, Manchester, in the year 1933. Elliss “Puss” Achong, a player of Chinese origin, was a left-arm orthodox spinner, playing for the West Indies at the time. According to folklore, Achong is said to have 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 said to the umpire, “fancy being done by a Chinaman!”, leading to the popularity of the term in England, and subsequently, in the rest of the world.

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