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
English cricket team in Australia in 1958–59 against the Australians with his ferocious off-spin, still a record for an Ashes series. For Surrey he took 10/88 and 2/42 against the tourists, but at Old Trafford he took 9/37 and 10/53, a record for all First Class cricket. His Surrey "spin twin" was Tony Lock, a slow left arm bowler with a dangerous faster ball. He took only 15 wickets (22.46) wickets against Australia in 1956, but 34 wickets (7.47) against New Zealand in 1958. The selectors had had doubts about their effectiveness overseas and neither had been taken in 1954-55, but Laker would top the England Test