Achong Ellis “Puss” Image 1 Trinidad & Tobago 1933

Description

Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago born slow left-arm bowler Ellis Edgar “Puss” Achong was the first person of known Chinese descent to play in a Test match. Achong made his debut in first class cricket for Trinidad & Tobago in 1929-30 and made his Test match debut for The West Indies against England at Port of Spain in February 1930.

Achong is best known as 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 July 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, which is thought to be in his honour. 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.

Achong played in six Test matches for the West Indies against England 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 between 1929-30 and 1934-35. In the Final of the Inter-Colonial Tournament of 1931-32, he took 3-74 and 7-73 to bowl Trinidad to victory over British Guiana, his only ten wicket first class match and his best single return.

He married during the 1933 tour of England and settled in Manchester. After his last Test match at Port of Spain in January 1933, 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 for Burnley against Todmorden in 1945.

He returned to Trinidad & Tobago 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 681-8 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 later became a sports coach with the Trinidad & Tobago Ministry of Education, coaching and selecting the Trinidad & Tobago cricket team.

In 38 first class matches Achong had a best score of 45 not out, averaging 14.37 with the bat. With his bowling he took 110 wickets at 30.23 apiece with three five wicket innings in addition to his single ten wicket match, also taking 20 catches in first class play.

He also played football as a left winger for a local team, Maple, in the 1920’s and 1930’s, and represented Trinidad & Tobago from 1919 to 1932.

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