A bizarre cheating scandal from English club cricket is doing the rounds on social media. The incident occurred during a North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League Division Two match between Saltburn Cricket Club’s second XI and Middlesbrough Cricket Club’s second XI. In a video that has gone viral online, a Saltburn slip fielder can be seen clicking his fingers as the ball passes the outside edge of the batter’s bat. As the wicketkeeper completed the catch, the umpire signalled the batter out despite a clear gap between the bat and the ball.
The clip quickly spread across social media, leaving fans furious and prompting criticism of the club for alleged unfair play. Local cricketer Ben Mummery shared the video and described it as “the worst case of cheating” in cricket.
“@Saltburncc First slip clicks his fingers to imitate an edge, bat nowhere near it and given out. This is about the worst case of cheating I’ve ever seen in cricket. Apparently, their keeper has a huge amount of catches this season,” wrote Mummery on X (formerly Twitter).
@Saltburncc First slip clicks his fingers to imitate an edge, bat nowhere near it and given out.
This is about the worst case of cheating I’ve ever seen in cricket.
Apparently, their keeper has a huge amount of catches this season.@talkSPORT @bbctms @SkyCricket @TailendersPod pic.twitter.com/iM7lZfKF5q— Ben Mummery (@ben_mummery) July 27, 2026
Middlesbrough second XI captain Rory Cotterill later claimed that there had been two other similar incidents during the same match.
“Boro 2s skippa here, was 2 more incidents during this game, leading to a 15 and 16 year old being cheated out of an innings, along with this one. I was at the non strikers end at the time unknowingly watching them cheat in real time. We lost this game by 29 runs. Shocking,” wrote Rory Cotterill.
Boro 2s skippa here, was 2 more incidents during this game, leading to a 15 and 16 year old being cheated out of an innings, along with this one. I was at the non strikers end at the time unknowingly watching them cheat in real time. We lost this game by 29 runs. Shocking. pic.twitter.com/BTTngKbjw3
— rory99 (@rorycotters9) July 27, 2026
As the allegations continued to mount, the North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League stepped in and announced that a formal investigation had been launched.
“The league have received a formal complaint regarding alleged incidents in a Division Two game on Saturday,” the league said. “A full investigation has been initiated and until such time as the formal processes are complete no further comment will be made.”
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