CHENNAI: Move aside ‘Sandpaper Gate’ and ‘Spot-fixing scandals’, cricket has its latest sensation, ‘Clicky Ponting’. You heard that right: a controversy named after the former Australian skipper, Ricky Ponting, and it really clicks well on social media. Your assumption, though, is wrong; this incident happened in a second XI fixture all the way across in England, between Saltburn CC and Norton CC.
Ben Mummery, in a post on X, highlighted the blatant ‘cheating’ in England, where both the wicketkeeper and the slip fielder go up in unison as the ball passes the bat. But here’s the twist: the ball never hits the bat, and instead the sound that the umpire hears is coming from a ‘click’ sound made by the slip fielder, Brian Devine.
“Apparently, their keeper has a huge amount of catches this season,” Mummery wrote.
According to Max Tempers, the wicketkeeper, Josh Bowes, has been involved in 39 catches across 13 games with Devine and only five catches in seven games without him. While correlation does not imply causation, the wicketkeeper has been averaging four catches per game in eight games this season, including eight in a game against Shildon Railway CC – that led to the suspicion.
Seven catches is the most by a wicketkeeper in a Test, so you know why it kick-started a full-blown scrutiny. In the aftermath of the incident, North Yorkshire and South Durham league put out a clarification.
"The League have received a formal complaint regarding alleged incidents in a Division Two game on Saturday. A full investigation has been initiated and until such time as the formal processes are complete no further comment will be made."