A slip fielder at an English club cricket match is under investigation after videos emerged appearing to show him clicking his fingers as the ball passed batsmen, attempting to mimic the sound of an edge and trick umpires into awarding wickets.
Brian Devine of Saltburn CC, quickly dubbed "Clicky Ponting" online, is being investigated by the North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League. The local curry house that had sponsored Devine has since withdrawn its backing.
The footage shocked the cricket world, but Saltburn is far from the first club to bend or break the rules. Decades of grassroots experience have produced a catalogue of tricks, dark arts, and outright deceptions. Similar incidents have surfaced at the highest level too: three Australian players received long bans following a sandpaper ball-tampering plot in 2018, and Alex Carey's run out of Jonny Bairstow during the 2023 Ashes drew widespread controversy.
Vaseline and fading light
Sunny Agnihotri, who played for West Blatchington Cricket Club between 2002 and 2008 and won the Sussex Invitation League Division 1 twice, recalls opponents Crawley Eagles applying Vaseline to their bats before matches. The aim was to muffle the sound of an outside edge so it would not carry to the umpire.
"We asked the umpires about it and they said it's not against the rules," Agnihotri said. "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 favoured a different approach: wasting time when batting first to eat into the available daylight. Players would throw all their equipment onto the pitch and take well beyond the permitted three minutes between batsmen, without punishment.
"They would take double the time so that when it was our turn to bat, it would be gloomier," Agnihotri said.
Softening up the umpires
Not all gamesmanship comes from players. An umpire in the Leicestershire leagues during the late 1990s was notorious for developing a twitchy trigger finger as the bar's opening time approached. He would reportedly whisper to fielders: "Next one that hits the pads... give it a big appeal" and duly oblige when they appealed.
One Leicestershire Premier Division champion team reportedly sent beers to the umpires' room and offered them sweets while fielding, hoping decisions would fall in their favour. Their wicketkeeper was also known for attempting to kick the stumps down and appealing that the batter had been bowled. Another team in the same leagues was accused of sending the same batsman in twice in different kit, a ruse that unravelled only when the player was spotted by the home team scorer watching through binoculars.
The elastic band trick
Long before "Clicky Ponting," a wicketkeeper was pulling a near-identical stunt using an elastic band. One anonymous contributor recalls three of his teammates being given out caught behind in the same match, all insisting they had not edged 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," the contributor wrote.
A legal, if filthy, declaration
In 2017, Pembrokeshire clubs Carew and Cresselly met in the final match of the West Wales league season with the title at stake. Carew led by 21 points; a win was worth 20, with bonus points available for runs and wickets.
Carew checked the rules with the umpire before play and then declared their innings on just 18 for one. Cresselly collected the 20 points for winning, but with barely any runs to chase, every bonus point opportunity had been wiped off the table. Carew took the title by a single point.
A trail of sawdust
In a Kent leagues match, Eynsford's fixture at Chislehurst and West Kent was interrupted by rain. When umpires asked the home side to produce sawdust to help bowlers grip the wet ball on resumption, the Chislehurst captain said he had none. A visiting member had watched him carry a bag from the club shed to his car boot earlier, leaving a trail of sawdust between the two. When challenged, the captain claimed to know nothing about it.
Another contributor, Matt Gatward, admits to a moment he is not proud of. Playing for village side Saffron Plantationers in Essex, he accidentally trod on his own stumps while pulling a delivery for four. The bails came off unnoticed, the umpire signalled the winning runs, and Gatward kept walking.
"It was one I got away with but I'm not proud of my actions," Gatward said. "I got caught up in the moment and should have fessed up. I do seem to remember sleeping OK that night though!"
