As they start the documentary project, which will later evolve into a book project for WG, they run into several people who claim to know something about Mathew, and they run into others who do not want WG to go any further with the project. Mathew was a 'top spinner.,' 'Chinaman, googly, top spinner and that amazing arm ball that god rid of the Aussie captain.' Along with his friend and fellow cricket fanatic Ari Byrd, WG begins to gather information on Mathew, who has long-since disappeared from the cricket scene, official records and also from Sri Lanka, seemingly vanishing into thin air. He decides that it's a good time to do a 'halfway decent documentary on Sri Lankan cricket', and is obsessed with a cricket player named Pradeep Mathew, who he says, is Sri Lanka's all-time best cricketer. His doctor has given him about a year to live if he does not stop drinking if WG cuts down to two drinks a day, maybe a year or two at most. 'There is nothing more inspiring than a solid deadline,' notes retired Sri Lankan journalist WG Karunasena, and after a long career of both sportswriting and serious drinking, he has been given his last one. The mix of Sri Lankan history, contemporary politics, humor, the characters and the author's prose all come together to make this book an unforgettable experience. Strangely enough, my lack of knowledge was not a drawback in any form. I know jack about cricket, which features heavily throughout the story no surprise there, considering Americans are far more involved in football, baseball and basketball. Whatever your choice may be after finishing this novel, Chinaman is one of the best novels I've read so far this year. 'Is this a story about a pony-tailed Chinaman bowler? Or a tale to tell a pony-tailed Chinaman? That is for you to decide.' ' The question asked by the narrator of this novel is this: For a right-handed batsman, the ball will move from the off side to the leg side (left to right on the TV screen).

A 'Chinaman' in cricket terms is (according to Wikipedia) 'a left-handed bowler bowling wrist spin (left arm unorthodox). There is a Sinhalese expression ' Konde bandapu cheena,' which translates as 'ponytailed Chinaman,' and connotes someone gullible - someone who will believe anything.

Chinaman by shehan