Chinaman (term) is almost entirely absent from British English, and has been since before 1965. However, "chinaman" (not capitalized) is still used in an alternative sense to describe a left-arm unorthodox spin bowler in cricket. Most British dictionaries see the term "Chinaman" as old-fashioned, and this view is backed up by data from the British National Corpus. According to "Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage", in American English "Chinaman" is most often used in a "knowing" way, either satirically or to evoke the word's historical connotations. It acknowledges, however, that there is still some usage that is completely innocent. In addition, Herbst notes
Wrist spin towards the batsman with a scrambled seam (with the ball not spinning in the direction of the seam, so the seam direction is not constant, unlike in conventional spin bowling). This has less effect on the flight and bounce but absence of leg spin may deceive the batsman. It is claimed that Shane Warne invented this type of delivery. However, this is inaccurate. The Australian spinner Peter Philpott used the technique in the 1960s, calling it simply an orthodox backspinner, while Australian allrounder and captain Richie Benaud used what he called his 'sliding topspinner' which appears again to have been