frame|right|Trajectory of a left-arm unorthodox spin delivery
Left-arm unorthodox spin, also known as slow left-arm wrist spin, is a type of spin bowling in the sport of cricket. Left-arm unorthodox spin bowlers use wrist spin to spin the ball and make it deviate from left to right after pitching. The direction of turn is the same as that of a traditional right-handed off spin bowler, although the ball will usually turn more sharply due to the spin being imparted predominantly by the wrist.
Some left-arm unorthodox bowlers also bowl the left-arm equivalent of a googly or a 'wrong'un' and the ball ends up turning from right to left on the pitch, going away from a right-handed batsman as if the bowler were an orthodox left-arm spinner.
Notable left-arm unorthodox spin bowlers
The first cricketer known to bowl the style of delivery was 19th-century South African bowler Charlie Llewellyn. Llewellyn toured North America with Bernard Bosanquet, the originator of the googly delivery, and it is likely that Llewellyn learned the googly-style of delivery from him, bowling it with his left-arm. Chuck Fleetwood-Smith used the delivery in the 1930s, including in his 10 Test matches. Although better known for fast bowling and orthodox slow left-arm, Garfield Sobers could also use it to good effect. Kuldeep Yadav, who debuted for India in March 2017, bowls left-arm wrist spin, and Paul Adams played 45 Test matches and 24 One-day internationals for South Africa between 1995 and 2004 using the delivery. while in 2022 Michael Rippon was reported as "the first specialist left-arm wristspinner" to play for New Zealand. In the women's game, Kary Chan of Hong Kong and Millie Taylor of England bowl left-arm wrist spin deliveries.
Instances of left-arm unorthodox spinners taking a ten-wicket haul in a Test match are rare. Examples include Chuck Fleetwood-Smith against England in 1936–37, Michael Bevan against the West Indies in 1996–97, and Paul Adams against Bangladesh in 2002–03.
In 2007 CricInfo suggested that left-arm wrist-spin bowlers are uncommon because it is "difficult to control left-arm wrist spin. And [...] the ball coming in to a right-hander is considered less dangerous than the one leaving him".</blockquote>
Historical use of the term 'chinaman'
Historically the term "chinaman" was sometimes used to describe the googly delivery or other unusual deliveries, whether bowled by right or left-arm bowlers. The left-arm wrist spinner's delivery that is the equivalent of the googly eventually became known as the "chinaman".
The origin of the term is unclear, although it is known to have been in use in Yorkshire during the 1920s and may have been first used in reference to Roy Kilner. It is possible that it is a guarded reference to Charlie Llewellyn, the first left-arm bowler to bowl the equivalent of the googly.