Cheating allegations rock English Club Cricket as fielder snaps fingers to fake edge

A bizarre cheating controversy has gone viral following an English club cricket match between Saltburn Cricket Club's Second XI and Middlesbrough Cricket Club's Second XI in the North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League Division Two.

In a video that has spread widely across social media, a Saltburn slip fielder appears to snap his fingers as the ball passes the outside edge of the batter's bat, creating the illusion of an edge. The wicketkeeper completed the catch, and the umpire gave the batter out despite a visible gap between the bat and the ball.

The incident sparked widespread outrage online, with fans accusing the fielding side of unfair play. Local cricketer Ben Mummery shared the clip on social media, calling it 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.@talkSPORT @bbctms @SkyCricket @TailendersPod

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Middlesbrough Second XI captain Rory Cotterill later alleged that two other similar incidents occurred during the same match, further fuelling the controversy.

"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 Cotterill on X.

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.

As the allegations gathered momentum, the North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League announced that it had launched a formal investigation into the incident. The league will examine the allegations made during the Division Two fixture after the viral video sparked widespread debate over the spirit of the game and the conduct of players involved.

"The league have received a formal complaint regarding alleged incidents in a Division Two game on Saturday. A full investigation has been initiated and until such time as the formal processes are complete no further comment will be made,” said the league as quoted by NDTV Sports.