Clicky Ponting Cricketer Brian Devine Banned for Two Years Over Finger-Click Appeal

An amateur cricketer known online as Clicky Ponting has been banned for two years after he was filmed clicking his fingers at slip to mimic the sound of the ball edging the bat. Brian Devine, fielding at slip for Saltburn second XI, made the clicking sound during a North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League Division Two match against Norton in July. Reports published on November 6 set out the ban and the sanctions against his club in full.

The finger click prompted an appeal, and Norton batsman Noman Shabir was given out caught behind by wicketkeeper Josh Bowes. The clip of the moment went viral. Online, the fielder was dubbed Clicky Ponting, a play on the name of former Australia captain Ricky Ponting.

The ban and the club sanctions

The league statement, reported by Reuters, is direct. "The player concerned is suspended from all cricket under the ECB's jurisdiction for two years, from 30 September 2026 to 29 September 2028. This covers playing, coaching, umpiring, scoring and managing junior teams."

That means the ban runs from 30 September 2026 to 29 September 2028, and it covers every role in the game under the England and Wales Cricket Board, not just playing. Devine cannot play, coach, umpire, score or manage junior teams during that period.

Saltburn Cricket Club was punished as well. The club was fined 300 pounds, its second XI was relegated from Division Two to Division Three, and the team will start the 2027 season with a 60-point deduction.

How the league reached its decision

The league investigation involved player interviews, written statements and a review of the footage by a three-person disciplinary panel. Devine and Saltburn accepted misconduct charges. The club had initially appealed against its sanction and later accepted the appeal outcome.

The case was not built on the viral clip alone. The league said it received complaints about the conduct of Devine and Saltburn in more than one match before it opened the investigation in late July. The July match against Norton, the appeal that followed the finger click, and the dismissal of Shabir are the facts at the centre of the case, and the league worked through interviews and statements before its panel ruled.

The result is a two-year ban for a club cricketer whose finger click was heard around the cricket world, relegation and a points deduction for his club's second XI, and a 300-pound fine for Saltburn. The ban is already in force, dated from 30 September 2026, and it runs until 29 September 2028.