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The ball is bowled, the batter plays a shot and it\u2019s caught by the wicketkeeper to cheers all round. The batter is clearly bemused. Did he hit it? Or \u2026 did a fielder click his fingers to mimic a nick?<\/p>\n
A row has erupted in the normally friendly, if ultra-competitive, world of English club cricket after footage went viral of alleged cheating. Australian cricket will always have Sandpapergate<\/a>. The North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League now has clickgate \u2013 or, as it has been christened online, \u201cClicky Ponting\u201d \u2013 a play on the name of the former Australian captain Ricky Ponting.<\/p>\n The league has promised a full investigation in response to a complaint made after Saturday\u2019s division two match between Saltburn 2nd XI and Norton 2nd XI.<\/p>\n A video posted on social media<\/a> showing a fielder apparently clicking his fingers as the batter goes for the ball. He has been accused of trying to trick the umpire into thinking the ball clipped the edge of the bat before being caught.<\/p>\n The bemused batter can be seen protesting to the umpire<\/a> as Saltburn players celebrate. Ben Mummery, who posted the video on social media, said it was \u201cabout the worst case of cheating I\u2019ve ever seen in cricket\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cApparently, their keeper has a huge amount of catches this season,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mummery said he was pleased to see the video had gone viral and was uniting the cricket world: \u201cI\u2019m genuinely really happy it\u2019s being exposed. Harshest possible punishment please. It\u2019s not cricket.\u201d<\/p>\n The footage has been shared more than 3m times and has prompted a lively debate as amateur internet sleuths pore over previous Saltburn scorecards.<\/p>\n Rory Cotterill, who captained Middlesbrough CC\u2019s 2nd XI in a 29-run defeat to Saltburn in June, said a similar situation had occurred in that match. He shared a video allegedly showing the same player clicking his fingers with commenters describing it as scandalous.<\/p>\n Authorities said they were taking the matter seriously. North Yorkshire<\/a> and South Durham Cricket League said in a statement: \u201cThe league have received a formal complaint regarding alleged incidents in a division two game on Saturday 25 July 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cA full investigation has been initiated and until such time as the formal processes are complete no further comment will be made.\u201d<\/p>\n Saltburn won the game by 159 runs and are top of division two by 17 points. The club has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n Clickgate is far from the first alleged cheating scandal to rock the world of cricket. One of the most infamous cases is Sandpapergate in a 2018 test match between Australia and South Africa.<\/p>\n
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