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Clicky Ponting responds to cheating allegations, Saltburn CC loses sponsorships: Everything that has happened in the click-gate controversy originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Saltburn CC fielder caught faking edge sounds with finger clicks.
- Brian Devine is suspended by the club and loses sponsorship after the scandal breaks.
- The North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League has launched a formal investigation.
All you need to know: Village cricket scandal 'Clicky Ponting' goes global after viral cheating clip
A recreational cricket match in England has spiralled into an international talking point after footage emerged showing a fielder clicking his fingers to fake the sound of a bat edge, tricking an umpire into giving a batsman out and triggering a formal investigation by cricket authorities.
The controversy centres on a Division Two fixture in the North Yorkshire and South Durham League, where Saltburn CC's second XI defeated Norton CC by a commanding 159 runs last weekend.
What initially looked like a routine victory for a side chasing top spot in their division has since spiralled into a full-blown cheating scandal after multiple videos surfaced online, all pointing to the same suspicious pattern of caught-behind dismissals.
The incident that sparked everything unfolded with the match delicately poised, with Norton sitting at 39 for 2 when their number four batsman, Noman Shabir, walked out to bat.
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His very first delivery, bowled by Saltburn's Sam Morrison, pitched outside off stump and completely beat his bat. Nothing about that moment seemed unusual until the ball passed Shabir and a fielder stationed at first slip was seen clicking his fingers, mimicking the exact sound of a thin edge.
The wicketkeeper collected the ball cleanly, the fielding side appealed enthusiastically, and the umpire, convinced by what he'd heard, raised his finger to give Shabir out. Despite the batsman's visible frustration and attempts to explain to the umpire that he hadn't actually made contact with the ball, his protests were brushed aside.
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Who is 'Clicky Ponting': The alleged villain behind click-gate
The fielder is Saltburn's opening batsman, Brian Devine, a name that has since become inseparable from the nickname "Clicky Ponting."
Devine is a 24-year veteran of amateur cricket, having featured in 481 matches over the course of his career, and was previously celebrated on Saltburn's own social media as something of a club legend. Professionally, he works as company secretary at Northallerton Auctions, a local livestock auction house.
When the Daily Maildialled his number for a response, he declined to offer any explanation for the finger-clicking incidents.
The scandal might have quietly faded away had the match not been live-streamed. But, as is now common practice across much of English recreational cricket, the footage was subsequently archived on the England and Wales Cricket Board's official Play Cricket platform.
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Ben Mummery, an amateur cricketer based in Durham, was tipped off about what had happened and shared the clip on X, and he labelled it among the worst instances of cheating he had ever witnessed in the sport.
That surge in attention prompted viewers to dig through archived footage of Saltburn's earlier matches, and they quickly uncovered dozens of similar incidents, suggesting the tactic had been used repeatedly across an entire season. In nearly every clip that has since emerged, the same figure can be spotted standing at first slip, clicking his fingers as the ball travels past the batsman.
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Consequences begin to bite 'Clicky Ponting'
Across the 13 matches Devine has featured in for Saltburn this season, wicketkeepers have combined for an eye-popping 39 catches. In the seven matches he sat out, that number dropped dramatically to just five.
One particular fixture against Shildon Railway on July 18 saw wicketkeeper Josh Bowes alone credited with eight catches in a single innings. It is a figure that dwarfs the record for wicketkeeper dismissals in a single men's Test innings, which stays at seven. And that is a mark that has stood across roughly 2,600 Test matches and 150 years of the format's history.
For Devine, repercussions appear to have already begun. The Daily Mail reports that the club had suspended him on the night the scandal broke.
He has also lost his personal sponsorship arrangement with Spices, a local Indian restaurant he frequented regularly.
Cricket authorities have now also stepped in, with the North Yorkshire and South Durham League initiating a formal investigation.
In an official statement, the league acknowledged receiving a complaint regarding the alleged incidents from the July 25 fixture, adding that no further comment would be made until the investigative process had run its course.
Why this story resonates far beyond village cricket
What makes this scandal so compelling isn't just the absurdity of the method; it's how perfectly it captures cricket's deep reliance on trust between players, umpires and the spirit of the game itself.
Recreational cricket rarely has access to technology like Snicko or Hot Spot, meaning umpires depend almost entirely on sound and instinct. This is exactly the vulnerability this scheme appears to have exploited.
The statistical disparity in wicketkeeper catches is damning on its own, as numbers rarely lie that consistently by coincidence. Regardless of how the league's investigation concludes, this episode serves as an uncomfortable reminder that cheating scandals aren't confined to professional cricket's biggest stages; they can just as easily unfold on a quiet Saturday afternoon at a small village ground.
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