A club cricketer nicknamed 'Clicky' Ponting became a viral sensation after clicking his fingers to trick an umpire into a wrongful dismissal, reviving old debates about cricket's unwritten moral code.
A club cricketer briefly became the most talked-about player in the world after footage of him clicking his fingers to fool an umpire went viral, seen by around seven million people on social media.
The player, Brian Devine, was nicknamed 'Clicky' Ponting and also referred to as 'Snapil Dev' by online commentators. Fielding at first slip, Devine clicked his fingers as the ball passed the bat, and the umpire was fooled into giving the batsman out.
There is no specific law in cricket against clicking your fingers, yawning, or scratching yourself on the field, though umpires retain the authority to rule on unfair play.
The incident occurred in a second division match in the North Yorkshire and South Durham League between Saltburn and Norton. The footage exists because of FrogBox, a fixed camera system used by Play-Cricket, a website that streams matches of amateur teams in England.
Statisticians examined Devine's playing history and found that in the 13 matches he played, the wicketkeeper took 39 catches. In the seven matches he did not play, the keeper managed only five catches.
Devine, 38, has been suspended indefinitely by his club following the incident.
The episode has reignited discussion around cricket's 'spirit of the game.' The article notes that for nearly two hundred years after cricket's laws were formalised, the sport's supreme player was W.G. Grace, described as a great all-rounder and 'a notorious cheat.'
Cricket has faced other major integrity controversies, including 'sandpapergate,' when Australian players were suspended for scuffing the ball during a Test against South Africa. Journalist Rob Smyth is quoted as saying wrong 'uns exist outside the leg-spin community too.
Philosopher David Papineau is referenced for his view that cricket's moral code reflects the difference between morality, which is universal, and convention, which varies by context — such as claiming a catch you know is not clean being considered cheating, while not walking after an edge is broadly accepted and left to the umpire or the Decision Review System.
The article also recalls a club-cricket trick in which, after the wicketkeeper collected the ball, he and the bowler would look toward fine leg as if the ball had gone that way, tempting the batsman into taking a run before the keeper whipped off the bails.
Other historic gamesmanship is cited, including W.G. Grace replacing the bails and claiming the crowd had come to watch him bat, and Geoff Boycott rubbing the wrong leg to mislead the umpire on an lbw decision.
The piece concludes that Devine is unlikely to start any new trend in the sport, but is simply 'another in a long tradition of wrong 'uns.'
Reporting sourced from The Hindu Cricket. Photo courtesy The Hindu Cricket.