Ellis Edgar Achong (16 February 1904 – 29 August 1986) was a sportsman from

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

in the West Indies. He played cricket for the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

and was the first person of known Chinese descent to play in a Test match. Achong was born in Belmont,

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...

. He played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

as a left-winger for a local team, Maple, in the 1920s and 1930s, and represented

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 orthodox spin or left-arm off spin, also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of spin bowling in cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven ...

(left-arm

finger spin 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 ...

). After bowling

Walter Robins Robert Walter Vivian Robins (3 June 1906 – 12 December 1968) was an English cricketer and cricket administrator, who played for Cambridge University, Middlesex, and England. A right-handed batsman and right-arm leg-break and googly bowler, h ...

stumped Stumped is a method of Dismissal (cricket), dismissing a batter (cricket), batter in cricket, in which the wicket-keeper put down the wicket, puts down the wicket of the Glossary_of_cricket_terms#S, striker while the striker is out of their Bat ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

in 1933, it is reputed that Robins said to the umpire, Joe Hardstaff Sr., "fancy being done by a bloody Chinaman".

Learie Constantine Learie Nicholas Constantine, Baron Constantine (21 September 19011 July 1971) was a Trinidadian cricketer, lawyer and politician who served as Trinidad and Tobago's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and became the UK's first black peer ...

is said to have replied: "Do you mean the bowler or the ball?" An unorthodox left-arm spin delivery (spinning from the

off side The off side is a particular half of a cricket field. A cricket field may be notionally divided into two halves, by an imaginary line running down the middle of the pitch, through the middle stumps, and out to the boundary in both directions ...

to the

leg side The leg side, also called the on side, is a particular half of a cricket field. A cricket field may be notionally divided into two halves, by an imaginary line running down the middle of the pitch, through the middle stumps, and out to the bou ...

for a right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

) was sometimes known as a "chinaman" delivery, although the term is now rarely used. However, Achong did not bowl unorthodox left-arm spin – the first Test player to do so is believed to be Charles Llewellyn of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Achong played in six Test matches for the West Indies against the

English cricket team The England men's cricket team represents cricket in England, England and cricket in Wales, Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Maryleb ...

from 1930 to 1935, three in the West Indies and three in the 1933 tour of England. In all, Achong took eight Test

wicket In the sport of cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is either of the two sets of three Stump (cricket), stumps and two Bail (cricket), bails at each end of the Cricket pitch, pitch. The Fielding (cricket), fielding team's playe ...

s at a

bowling average In cricket, a player's bowling average is the number of runs they have conceded per wicket taken. The lower the bowling average is, the better the bowler is performing. It is one of a number of statistics used to compare bowlers, commonly use ...

of 47.25, but his Test figures belie his much greater success at regional level in the West Indies between 1929–30 and 1934–35. In the final of the Inter-Colonial Tournament of 1931–32, he took 3 for 74 and 7 for 73 to bowl Trinidad to victory over British Guiana. He married during the 1933 tour of England and settled in Manchester. After his last Test match, he continued to play cricket for several clubs in the Lancashire Leagues until 1951, taking more than 1,000 wickets, including 10 in an

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

against

Todmorden Todmorden ( ; ) is a market town and civil parish in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is north-east of Manchester, south-east of Burnley and west of Halifax, West Yorkshire, Halifax. In 2011, it had a popul ...

in 1945. He returned to

in 1952, and stood as a Test umpire in the 4th Test between West Indies and England at Port of Spain in March 1954, a high-scoring draw in which West Indies scored an imposing 681 for 8 declared, with the 3 "W"s (

Everton Weekes Sir Everton DeCourcy Weekes, Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG, Gold Crown of Merit, GCM, Order of the British Empire, OBE (26 February 19251 July 2020) was a cricketer from Barbados. A right-handed batsman, he was known as one of the har ...

Frank Worrell Sir Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell (1 August 1924 – 13 March 1967), sometimes referred to by his nickname of Tae, was a Barbadian West Indies cricketer and Jamaican senator. A stylish right-handed batsman and useful left-arm seam bowler, ...

and

Clyde Walcott Sir Clyde Leopold Walcott KA, GCM, OBE (17 January 1926 – 26 August 2006) was a West Indian cricketer. Walcott was a member of the "three W's", the other two being Everton Weekes and Frank Worrell: all were very successful batsmen from B ...

) all scoring centuries in West Indies' first innings, and Peter May and

Denis Compton Denis Charles Scott Compton (23 May 1918 – 23 April 1997) was an English multi-sportsman. As a cricketer he played in 78 Test matches and spent his whole career with Middlesex. As a footballer, he played as a winger and spent most of his ca ...

doing the same in England's 537 in reply. Achong later became a sports coach with the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Education, coaching and selecting the

Trinidad and Tobago cricket team The Trinidad and Tobago national cricket team is the representative cricket team of the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The team competes under the franchise name, Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in the Cricket West Indies' Professional Cricket L ...

. He died aged 82 in

St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

References

External links

*
Cricinfo – The Original Chinaman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Achong, Ellis 1904 births 1986 deaths Trinidad and Tobago cricket umpires Trinidad and Tobago people of Chinese descent Trinidad and Tobago cricketers Trinidad and Tobago men's footballers West Indies Test cricketers Cricketers from Port of Spain Trinidad and Tobago cricket coaches West Indian Test cricket umpires Hakka sportspeople Sportspeople of Chinese descent Men's association football wingers