NYSDL flags welfare fears in Saltburn cricket cheating probe — SkimNews
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- NYSDL expressed "genuine concern for the welfare" of Saltburn CC members and met with club officials while receiving guidance from the England and Wales Cricket Board to ensure a "due and appropriate process".
- Saltburn Cricket Club suspended player Brian Devine for the "foreseeable future" after video footage allegedly showed him clicking his fingers to trick umpires into awarding a caught-behind wicket in a second-team game against Norton.
- The footage went viral globally, earning the nickname 'Clicky Ponting' after Ricky Ponting, and made headlines in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India and the USA, prompting the League to call for "rights of all parties" to be observed.
- Saltburn conceded their Wednesday second-team cup match against Marton in the wake of the controversy, despite sitting 17 points clear at the top of Division Two after winning the disputed match by 159 runs.
- Middlesbrough second XI captain Rory Cotterill claimed two further cheating incidents occurred in his side's 29-run defeat to Saltburn last month, while additional footage allegedly shows Devine repeating the finger-clicking while playing for Pudsey St Lawrence in the Bradford Premier League.
- Pudsey St Lawrence said they were "unaware of any alleged misconduct" by Devine during his time there, and the Bradford League stated it is "not our policy to undertake retrospective investigations."
Why it matters: The cheating allegations now span two leagues and at least three matches, with a previous club (Pudsey St Lawrence) distancing itself and the Bradford League declining retrospective action — pushing the burden of any formal ruling onto the NYSDL and ECB. Saltburn's voluntary concession of a cup match signals the club is already absorbing reputational damage before the inquiry concludes.
Ask SkimNews
