Mike Jakeman
You know you are in trouble when Piers Morgan describes your behaviour as ‘outrageous’.
Earlier this week a cricket fan, Ben Mummery, posted footage from a village cricket match between Saltburn’s second XI and Norton. The 15-second clip zoomed in on the fielder at first slip, named online as Brian Devine, who clicks the fingers of his left hand at the same time as the ball passes the outside edge of his opponent’s bat. The ball nestles in the gloves of wicket-keeper Josh Bowes. The umpire assumes the noise comes from an edge and gives the batsman out.
The clip piqued the interest of the online cricket community, who dug up several other clips showing similar behaviour. Further investigations revealed that in the eight matches that Devine and Bowes had played together for Saltburn’s seconds this season, Bowes took 31 catches. In the five matches when neither played, the team managed five. In a game against Shildon Railways, which Saltburn won by 22 runs, Bowes took eight catches. In almost 2,600 men’s Test matches played over 150 years, the highest number of catches a wicketkeeper has ever taken in an innings is seven. The North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League has begun an investigation.
