At the snap of a finger, Brian Devine became English cricket’s Public Enemy No 1 – and ‘Clicky Ponting’ was born.
An investigation is underway in the North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League after several videos appeared to show Saltburn CC slip fielder Devine clicking his fingers as the ball passed the batsman to mimic the sound of an edge.
Devine’s aim is as clear as it is shocking – to con the umpire into giving his team a wicket. The spirit of cricket this most definitely is not, and Devine and his team’s actions have shocked the cricketing world (and his now former sponsor, the local curry house).
But Saltburn are hardly the only team over the years to bend the rules – and in some cases, openly break them.
The 2018 scandal which saw three Australian cricketers receive long bans for their part in a sandpaper ball tampering plot and Alex Carey’s controversial 2023 Ashes run out of Jonny Bairstow are high-profile recent examples in international cricket.
And similar incidents to Saltburn’s have taken place regularly at grassroots level, too. We’ve gathered together the best (or worst, depending on your view) from decades’ worth of experience in the glory, and shame, of club cricket.
Brian Devine, the man at the centre of the ‘Clicky Ponting’ club cricket scandal
Devine (circled) is being investigated by his local league, with allegations he clicked his fingers when the ball passed an opposition player’s bat to simulate the sound of an edge
Vaseline assistance
Sunny Agnihotri played for West Blatchington Cricket Club between 2002 and 2008, and won the Sussex Invitation League Division 1 twice.
When they met Crawley Eagles, the opposition would put Vaseline on their bats ahead of the match. The idea was that when the ball nicked the outside edge, it wouldn’t make so much noise.
‘We asked the umpires about it and they said it’s not against the rules,’ said Agnihotri. ‘They were also definitely rummaging in their pockets between balls, so we knew something untoward was going on. They made it so obvious. The dark arts happen a lot.’
Local rivals Brighton Insurance would waste time when they batted first to use up the daylight.
Between a dismissed batsman walking off and a new one replacing him, you had three minutes. But on the field of play, you could still get padded up. Brighton players would throw all their equipment on the pitch and take longer than three minutes without punishment.
‘They would take double the time so that when it was our turn to bat, it would be gloomier,’ Agnihotri said.
Izzy Martin
But similar incidents to Saltburn’s have taken place regularly at grassroots level too
It’s not always the players…
There was an umpire in the Leicestershire leagues during the late 1990s renowned for getting a twitchy trigger finger the closer it got to opening time at the bar.
When he started to get really thirsty, he would whisper under his breath: ‘Next one that hits the pads… give it a big appeal’ and, when the fielding side did, he duly obliged.
A trick of one former Leicestershire Premier Division champion team was to send beers to the umpires’ room and offer them sweets while in the field in a bid to get them on-side so decisions would fall in their favour.
‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way,’ said one member of the side. Their wicketkeeper was also known for trying to kick the stumps down and appealing that the batter had been bowled.
I remember playing in a county age-group match in which one fielder on the team, who went on to become a professional, took a catch on the half-volley and celebrated as though it was clean.
Another team in the Leicestershire leagues was once accused of sending the same batsman in twice in different kit, until their plan was foiled when the star man was spotted by the home team scorer through her binoculars.
Anonymous
No matter the spread of the ‘spirit of cricket’, the laws are always open to a little bending
Let’s all band together
I played in a match many, many years ago where three of our batsmen were given out caught behind, all of them swearing blind they never got a nick on the ball.
After some brief research, we realised the wicketkeeper had an elastic band attached to his glove, which he snapped against it to make the noise of a nick, fooling the umpire into giving it out in a similar trick to Saltburn’s.
Anonymous
Saltburn CC, which has now come under international scrutiny after Devine was caught on camera
Questionable declaration
In 2017, Pembrokeshire rivals Carew and Cresselly took on each other in the final game of that year’s West Wales league season. Carew were top, Cresselly second.
Cresselly faced a difficult task that day, but not an impossible one. Carew’s lead was 21 points and a win was worth 20, but then you had the bonuses to consider – a point for every 40 runs up to 200 and a point for every two wickets.
In short, it boiled down to this: if Cresselly could win and take two more bonus points than Carew, they’d snatch the title. But Carew had a devilish plan.
As far as I’ve been told in my retracing of the steps, they even checked the rules with the umpire before the game, found their read of the situation was accurate, and set about putting it in action.
Batting first, they declared on just 18 for one. First there was shock, then revulsion. It was filthy and entirely legal.
Cresselly were welcome to the 20 points, which they achieved by knocking off the chase in just a few overs, but the opportunity for any bonuses had been snatched clean off the table. It was Carew’s title by a single point.
Riath Al-Samarrai
Saltburn weren’t the first side to mimick an edge – one of our contributors played against a team whose wicketkeeper used an elastic band!
Bailout
One day, while in action for Saffron Plantationers – a village side in Quendon near Saffron Walden in Essex – I was at the crease with my team needing four runs to win.
My plan was to charge the bowler and hit the ball down the ground. I was still deep in my crease as the bowler ran in. But his delivery was short of a length, so I stepped back and pulled it for four. As I did so, however, I trod gently on my own stumps and off came the bails.
But instead of me being given out hit wicket, as I should have been, everyone at the ground watched the ball disappear to the boundary. Not seeing the bails were off, the umpire signalled four and the end of the game.
After a while, the opposition wicketkeeper noticed something off and questioned why the bails were no longer on the stumps. But I just kept walking off the pitch as technically, the game was now over.
It was one I got away with but I’m not proud of my actions – I got caught up in the moment and should have fessed up. I do seem to remember sleeping OK that night though!
Matt Gatward
Australia captain Steve Smith breaks down at a press conference in light of his side’s Sandpapergate ball-tampering scandal in 2018
Another cheat bites the dust
I remember playing for Eynsford at Chislehurst and West Kent one year in the Kent leagues.
Eynsford were interrupted in their victory charge by a short, sharp shower. After 20 minutes off the field to allow the pitch to dry, the umpires suggested a restart and asked Chislehurst to put out some sawdust for the bowlers to allow for better grip.
The response from the Chislehurst captain was: ‘Sorry, we haven’t got any.’
Unfortunately for him, a visiting member had seen him put a bag from the club shed into his car boot, leaving a trail of sawdust between the two locations. When called out, he had the front to say he knew nothing about it!
Anonymous
No age allowances
Not cheating as such, though by way of intimidation it comes close to the line.
I distinctly remember my senior debut in the adult leagues. As someone who had a modicum of talent and was playing Northamptonshire junior cricket at the time, I was chucked in alongside grown men aged just 13 in a bid to speed up my development.
Cricket is meant to be a sport played by gentlemen – but don’t be surprised if you hear a few expletives at a village game, no matter how young the person on the receiving end is
Playing for South Northamptonshire village side Marston St Lawrence, I faced a tough task against experienced cricketers. Unsurprisingly given my youth, I struggled with the bat, playing and missing repeatedly.
I was as frustrated as anyone on the field, but my tender years didn’t stop me getting both barrels from the bowler who I couldn’t lay a bat on. I’ll never forget his words.
‘Just hit it, you c***!’ he shouted at me, his words starting off an unpleasant exchange with my more senior partner at the other end.
I was so shocked to be verbally abused at that age, I could not muster a reply. However, in the years since I’ve thought regularly about what I should have said.
If I had my time again, the response would have been: ‘I’m f***ing trying!’
Alex Bywater
