The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word CHINAMAN
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
C
H
I
N
A
M
A
N
More clues leading to the result CHINAMAN
- Delivery, piece that's fragile?
- Delivery from pal on island
- Delivery service fellow provides
- Hit before lunch, perhaps with a new ball
- Bosie, mate to lament with Oscar put away?
- Country fellow providing delivery on cricket field
- Charlie greeting irrelevant bloke with non-PC delivery?
- Mate and crew make delivery
- Delivery work on land
- Delivery pouch in a manila envelope
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "ball" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case ball = chinaman.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does CHINAMAN mean?
CHINAMAN noun- Older name for left-arm unorthodox bowling action (left-arm wrist-spin)
- A spin bowler who uses such an action
- A ball delivered with such an action