Ellis Achong

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.

Related Topics:
16 February - 1904 - 29 August - 1986 - Trinidad and Tobago - West Indies - Cricket - West Indies cricket team - Chinese - Test cricket - Left-arm unorthodox spin - Wrist spin

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.

Related Topics:
Port-of-Spain - Football - Left wing - 1920s - 1930s - Trinidad and Tobago

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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 Robbins said to the umpire Joe Hardstaff, "fancy being done by a 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 C. B. Llewellyn of South Africa.

Related Topics:
Bowler - Left-arm orthodox spin - Finger spin - Walter Robins - Stump - Old Trafford - Umpire - Joe Hardstaff - Learie Constantine - Off side - Leg side - Batsman - C. B. Llewellyn - South Africa

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He 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, Aching took taking 8 Test wickets at a bowling average of 47.25, but his Test figure 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.

Related Topics:
English cricket team - Wicket - Bowling average - Lancashire league - Innings - Burnley - Todmorden

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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 become 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.

Related Topics:
Trinidad and Tobago - Everton Weekes - Frank Worrell - Clyde Walcott - Centuries - Peter May - Denis Compton - Trinidad and Tobago cricket team - St. Augustine

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~