Village cricket cheating scandal convulses Middle England as ‘Clicky Ponting’ fielder’s trick fools umpires

Exclusive by Vivek Chaudhary

An amateur village cricket team is at the centre of a cheating scandal that has gone viral across the world after one of their fielders was accused of tricking umpires by clicking his fingers to imitate the noise of an edge off the bat.

An investigation has been launched by the North Yorkshire and South Durham League into the cheating allegations against Saltburn Cricket Club after video footage emerged online.

In the footage shared widely online, Saltburn’s first slip appears to fool the umpires by clicking his fingers to get the batsman out.

Now the Daily Mail can reveal the cricketer at the centre of the storm is ‘legendary’ amateur player Brian Devine.

Brian, 38, has played for years at Saltburn Cricket Club and is well known on the cricket scene in North Yorkshire.

A prolific batsman, he also previously played for Pudsey St Lawrence Cricket Club, helping them to win the Bradford Premier League second tier championship in 2023.

Following this achievement, he returned to Saltburn for the start of the 2024 season, with one social media post noting: ‘Excellent batting on Saturday from returning legend Brian Devine. 95 runs.’

There was such excitement about his return that he even managed to secure a sponsorship deal with local Indian restaurant Spices of Saltburn.

Devine, a father-of-one, from Guisborough, Cleveland, works as a company secretary at Northallerton Auctions, which specialises in auctions for livestock and farm machinery.

When contacted about the viral video by the Daily Mail, and told he had been identified as ‘Clicky Ponting’, Brian responded ‘Naturally I can’t comment on that.’

Then when told he was being widely accused of cheating, and asked whether there was some other explanation for what takes place in the videos, he said: ‘I don’t want to talk about it. I’m at work.’

From his social media posts, in addition to his obvious love for cricket, Brian also appears to be a big fan of Boris Johnson.

In one post from 2022 he wrote: ‘Top man Boris. Others may try to put you down! I won’t have a bad word said! I am off to get my kettle.’

The accused cricketer’s mother-in-law today told the Mail he is a ‘man of integrity.’

Georgina Vaughan, the mother of Devine’s partner Clare, said the family had been shocked by the scale of the cheating row.

She said: ‘It was only a little village cricket match and now it’s become this thing that’s all over the news and social media.

‘It has got totally out of hand and there is nothing that any of us want to say.’

Asked whether Devine was a man of integrity, she replied: ‘He certainly is.’

Footage from Saltburn’s 2nd XI match with Norton Cricket Club in Division Two of the North Yorkshire and South Durham League last weekend showed a ball delivered by Saltburn bowler Sam Morrison passing the bat of Norton batsman Noman Shabir without making contact with it.

At the same time, Saltburn slip fielder – who Daily Mail Sport understands is Brian Devine – seems to click his fingers. When Saltburn wicketkeeper Josh Bowes takes the ball, Saltburn appeal and the umpire gives Shabir out.

Shabir can clearly be seen objecting to his dismissal and seems to indicate to the umpire that he did not hit the ball and that the noise heard was a clicking of fingers instead.

Devine’s actions ‘disgust’ his sponsor 

An Indian restaurant that sponsored controversial cricketer Brian Devine has said that it no longer wants to be involved with him and is ‘disgusted’ by the viral video that appears to show him clicking his fingers.

Akmol Hussain, owner of Spices restaurant in Saltburn told the Daily Mail that his sponsorship deal with Brian was worth £1,000 per year and also included providing him and other players with a discount when they ate at his establishment.

Mr Hussain said: ‘It’s not the biggest sponsorship deal in sport but that’s not the point. I’m a huge cricket fan and what’s happened is very bad. It’s not in the spirit of this gentleman’s game.

‘It’s not what I expect from Brian, or the club and I want nothing to do with them from now. I love cricket and even used to play for fun but I’m too old now.’

He added: ‘I’m very shocked and disgusted by this video and can’t believe that Brian would do something like this. I’ve met him many times, but he has damaged the reputation of cricket and my restaurant.’