A viral video has sparked a cheating row in English club cricket after a fielder for Saltburn 2nd XI was apparently caught on camera clicking his fingers to mimic the sound of a batter nicking the ball. The incident occurred during a division two match against Norton 2nd XI on Saturday 25 July 2026 in the North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League.
The Incident
The footage shows the fielder clicking as the batter plays a shot. The ball is caught by the wicketkeeper, and while the Saltburn players celebrate, the batter appears bemused and protests to the umpire. Ben Mummery, who posted the video on social media, described it as “about the worst case of cheating I’ve ever seen in cricket”. He added: “Apparently, their keeper has a huge amount of catches this season.” The video has been shared more than 3 million times.
Another club captain, Rory Cotterill of Middlesbrough CC’s 2nd XI, said a similar situation occurred in a match against Saltburn in June. He shared a video allegedly showing the same player clicking his fingers, with commenters calling it scandalous.
League Response
The North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League confirmed it had received a formal complaint regarding the match. In a statement, the league said: “A full investigation has been initiated and until such time as the formal processes are complete no further comment will be made.” Saltburn won the match by 159 runs and currently top division two by 17 points. The club has been approached for comment.
Wider Context
The controversy has been dubbed “Clicky Ponting” online, a reference to former Australian captain Ricky Ponting and the “Sandpapergate” scandal from a 2018 test match. In that case, Australia’s Cameron Bancroft was caught using sandpaper to rough up the ball. Other ball-tampering incidents include England’s Marcus Trescothick, who revealed in his autobiography that he used Murray Mints in 2005 to keep saliva sticky for shining the ball. He wrote: “It had been common knowledge in county cricket for some time that certain sweets produced saliva which, when applied to the ball for cleaning purposes, enabled to keep its shine for longer and therefore its swing.”
