Cricketer nicknamed "Clicky Ponting" banned until 2028 after umpire-tricking scandal
A club cricketer nicknamed "Clicky Ponting" has been banned from the game until the end of the 2028 season, after he and his club accepted misconduct charges over a finger-clicking trick. The sanctions were announced on 6 November 2026.
The trick was simple, and it was caught on video. In July 2026, footage from Division Two of the North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League went viral. It showed Brian Devine clicking his fingers in the field. The noise was meant to make the umpire think a batter had edged a catch behind, which would have given Devine's side a wicket. The batter from Norton CC had not edged it.
Saltburn CC suspended Devine for the rest of the 2026 season while the league investigated. A three-person disciplinary panel then reviewed the case. Devine and Saltburn both accepted the misconduct charges, and the panel's penalties followed.
According to the Guardian, the England and Wales Cricket Board ban covers playing, coaching, umpiring, scoring and managing junior teams. That means Devine cannot take part in cricket in any of those roles under the board's authority, at any level, until the end of 2028.
Saltburn's second team has also been punished. Its 2nd XI has been relegated to Division Three of the league. It will then start the 2027 season with a 60-point deduction, a heavy handicap in a league table where points decide the standings. The club was also fined £300. Middlesbrough CC kept its place in Division Two, so it was not affected by the drop.
Catching a batter out is one of the sport's most important moments, so the umpire's decision on a close catch can decide a match. Umpires rely on what they see and hear. Clicking fingers to create a false sound is an attempt to sway that decision, and the league treated it as misconduct. For a club game played by volunteers on village grounds, that kind of trust matters as much as the scores.
The nickname came from the same trick. Devine's fellow players and the wider cricket world quickly linked his name to the former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, whose on-field intensity is well known. Neither the league nor the board's announcement is reported to have linked Ponting to the case, and he has no role in it.
Devine's case is now closed under the league's rules. The 2028 end date means he will have been out of the game for more than two full seasons from the point of his suspension, and the club will have a long road back to its previous standing.
