Cricket has laws, rather than rules, which might explain why someone suspected of breaking them can become the subject of an extra-judicial lynch mob. Last month’s North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League’s Division Two game between the second elevens of Saltburn and Norton would normally struggle to make headlines in the Northern Echo. But thanks to video footage of Brian Devine, Saltburn’s 38-year-old slip fielder, apparently clicking his fingers as the ball sailed harmlessly past the outside edge – thereby fooling the umpire into giving the batsman out caught behind – the match has become famous across the world.
Newspaper readers from Melbourne to Mumbai have piled in below the line (and, sometimes, below the belt) to demand the fielder’s head. Online sleuths have revealed that Saltburn’s wicketkeeper has claimed a suspicious number of ‘catches’ while standing next to this slippery slip, prompting previous opponents to claim similar unfair dismissals. The original footage has been viewed more than seven million times. Devine has gained the moniker of ‘Clicky Ponting’, a reference to the hard-nosed former Australian captain. Last week, he was suspended by his club for his foreseeable future, pending the outcome of an investigation.
