Clicky Ponting reaction would be the same in any match, going against Brits’ sense of fair play is why we abhor cheats

WELL, it’s simply not cricket. The “gentleman’s game” that spread the notion of fair play across the British Empire is mired in an alleged cheating scandal centred on a portly bloke from Saltburn. Brian Devine is facing accusations he clicked his fingers to trick umpires into thinking batsmen had edged the ball Credit: X Footage appears to show Devine clicking his left hand during a match The grave accusation facing auction house company secretary Brian Devine is that he clicked his fingers to trick umpires into thinking that batsmen had edged the ball. It led him to be christened Clicky Ponting after former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! After all, the win-at-all-costs Aussies have their own brazen and ignoble tradition of shredding the rule book. Devine, 38, who has been suspended by Saltburn Cricket Club, is alleged to have used the shabby con trick on the North Yorkshire circuit “for years”. If proven, this skullduggery has blossomed in a sport that prides itself on being played within the Spirit of Cricket. Respect for opponents and umpires has long been trumpeted by its lawmakers, the MCC, in this ancient pastime that was birthed on the village greens of Britain. Today, cricket is the second most popular sport in the world with a fanbase of 2.5billion, most of them from the Indian subcontinent. Yet England remains the cradle of the game and, some would like to think, its moral heartbeat. Most read in The Sun It makes Devine’s alleged deception — which has made headlines across the globe — so galling to many. Asked if there was any other explanation, apart from cheating, for his finger clicks, Devine said: “Naturally, I cannot comment on that.” The opening batsman has now been dropped by his official sponsor, a Saltburn Indian restaurant called Spices. Its proprietor Akmol Hussain said he was “very shocked and disgusted” and that the player had “damaged the reputation of cricket and my restaurant”. In 1981, Australian Trevor Chappell famously bowled the last ball underarm to prevent New Zealand potentially hitting the six they needed Credit: Getty – Contributor ‘Coughing Major’ Charles Ingram was convicted of cheating on a 2001 episode of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Credit: Enterprise Others weighed in too. Piers Morgan, a keen fan of Britain’s national summer sport, insisted: “Unbelievable. Clicky Ponting must be the biggest cheat in cricket history.” While Georgina Vaughn, the mother of Devine’s partner Clare, insisted: “It was only a little village cricket match and now it’s become this thing that’s all over the news and social media. “It has got totally out of hand and there is nothing any of us want to say.” Devine’s alleged clicking was spotted when Saltburn’s second XI took on Norton in Division Two of the North Yorkshire and South Durham League on Saturday. Saltburn confirmed they have suspended the player for the “foreseeable future”, adding that they are treating the allegations “with the utmost seriousness”. For many, it won’t matter a jot that this was a lowly amateur contest rather than a high-octane Ashes clash at Lord’s. The principles of British decency and fairness should remain sacrosanct. We are a country — at all levels of society — that plays by the rules. It’s woven into our fabric, from forming orderly queues to paying taxes. Our international reputation as a land that zealously upholds our democratic freedoms rests on it. And our ingrained sense of fair play is why many of us abhor cheats. When the Argentinians were using the full range of their dark arts to try to rattle England’s players in the World Cup semi-final, Three Lions fans were rightly aggrieved. Diego Maradona’s Hand of God was regarded here not as some crafty piece of gamesmanship, but as a disgusting act of duplicity. Diego Maradona’s Hand of God was regarded as a disgusting act of duplicity Credit: Getty England’s Jude Bellingham and Rodrigo De Paul of Argentina argue during the World Cup semi final Credit: Getty When “Coughing Major” Charles Ingram was convicted of cheating on a 2001 episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, it led to public vilification. People taunted him with cries of “cough” and “cheat” because they felt they’d been conned. If the accusations against Saltburn’s Devine stack up, how will it compare to other sporting con jobs? Marathon runner Fred Lorz pulled a fast one at the 1904 Olympics in St Louis, Missouri. In 32C heat, and cloying humidity on a hilly course, American Lorz decided to hitch a lift in a car for 11 miles before rejoining the race. Flashing across the winning line in a time of 3hrs 13mins, he was found out shortly before the gold medal was hung around his neck. Golf, which prides itself on self-regulation by its players, isn’t immune to those trying to scam a result. At the 1985 Open in Deal, Kent, Scottish golfer David Robertson was caught repeatedly marking where his ball was on the green, putting it in his pocket, then placing it back down as much as 20 feet closer to the hole. He was banned for 20 years from playing as a pro. Cricket has also had its share of rule breakers. In 1771, Thomas White walked in to bat at a match in Surrey with a bat “fully as wide as the wicket itself”. The rules were changed two days later limiting the size. The infamous Bodyline Ashes series of 1932 saw England’s bowlers aim at the body and head of Australian batsmen in an attempt to nullify their star player Don Bradman. Former England cricket captain Mike Brearley quipped years later of the then skipper: “Jardine won the Ashes but nearly lost an Empire.” Again, laws of the game were changed. In 1981, Australian Trevor Chappell famously bowled the last ball underarm to prevent New Zealand potentially hitting the six they needed to draw the game. Australia won the match, and it led to another rule change. The Aussies were up to it again in 2018, when captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were caught using sandpaper to rough up one side of the ball to make it swing more in the air in a Test against South Africa. Smith later broke down in tears as he apologised at a press conference. Now Saltburn’s Devine faces a possible reckoning. The North Yorkshire and South Durham League has launched an investigation. If the English cricketer now as famous as Ben Stokes is found to have hoodwinked umpires, the rulebook must be thrown at him. A points deduction and ban must follow. For cheats must never be allowed to prosper, whether it’s in the cauldron of international sport or Yorkshire village cricket. Comment now