A viral video has sparked a cheating row in English club cricket after appearing to show a Saltburn 2nd XI fielder clicking his fingers to mimic a batter’s nick. The footage, from Saturday’s division two match between Saltburn 2nd XI and Norton 2nd XI in the North Yorkshire and South Durham League, has prompted a formal complaint and a full investigation by league officials.
The clip shows the ball being bowled, the batter playing a shot and the wicketkeeper taking a catch to cheers from the fielding side. The batter appears bemused, with viewers left to ask whether he had edged the ball or whether a fielder had clicked his fingers to suggest a nick had been made. The allegation is that the umpire was being tricked into believing the ball had clipped the bat before being caught.
The incident has been dubbed “clickgate” online, and “Clicky Ponting”, a reference to former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, after spreading widely on social media. Australian cricket will always have Sandpapergate, but the North Yorkshire and South Durham League now has its own controversy to deal with.
Ben Mummery, who posted the video on social media, said it was
“about the worst case of cheating I’ve ever seen in cricket”and claimed the wicketkeeper involved had already taken a large number of catches this season.
He also said he was glad to see the video go viral because it had drawn attention to the issue.
“I’m genuinely really happy it’s being exposed. Harshest possible punishment please. It’s not cricket.”
The footage has been shared more than 3m times and has triggered a lively debate among cricket fans and amateur internet sleuths, many of whom have been trawling through previous Saltburn scorecards in search of clues.
Rory Cotterill, who captained Middlesbrough CC’s 2nd XI in a 29-run defeat to Saltburn in June, said a similar incident had happened in that match. He shared a video allegedly showing the same player clicking his fingers, with commenters describing the clip as scandalous.
League authorities said they were taking the complaint seriously. The North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League said in a statement:
“The league have received a formal complaint regarding alleged incidents in a division two game on Saturday 25 July 2026.
“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 game by 159 runs and are top of division two by 17 points. The club has been approached for comment.
Clickgate is not the first alleged cheating scandal to shake cricket. One of the most infamous examples is Sandpapergate, which came during a 2018 Test match between Australia and South Africa, when television cameras caught Australia’s Cameron Bancroft trying to rough up a side of the ball with sandpaper.
In his autobiography, the England Test cricketer Marcus Trescothick wrote that he had to make his saliva better at retaining the shine on balls. He said:
“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.”
The sweets were extra strong mints, but Trescothick said he
“couldn’t get on with them”. He added:
“Then I had a go at Murray Mints and found they worked a treat.
“Trouble was, even allowing for trying to keep one going as long as possible I still used to get through 15 a day and the taste soon palled.”
The story was interpreted by some, especially in Australia, as an admission of ball-tampering. Having one side of the ball shinier and smoother than the other allows it to swing more through the air, making it more difficult for the batting side.
