The far-reaching result has created a global web firestorm over a game of grassroots cricket that has been dubbed “Clickgate” by confused fans. It was at a North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League Division Two match between the Saltburn Cricket Club Second XI and Norton Cricket Club. A visiting batter, Noman Shabir, had a hard time playing a ball that landed inches past his bat but there was a sharp sound as soon as the ball passed the bat: A crowd roared.
Without any modern technology like the Decision Review System, Hot Spot or UltraEdge, the umpire relied solely on auditory cues to signal that the ball was in play and raised his finger to send the batter out. Shabir was quick to say that he saw the ball was fouled and protested vehemently, pointing to the slip cordon and accusing a fielder of deliberately snapping his fingers to imitate the crisp sound of a legal edge. The video of the dismissal quickly spread on social media and generated a debate about sportsmanship, deception and the values of amateur sport. Observers and cricket fans online quickly dubbed the incident "Clickgate" and "Clicky Ponting," and it divided cricket fans in the cricketing world as to whether the fielder's actions were unsportsmanlike behavior.
The situation got even more complicated when there was a wave of retrospective attention and old archival video from previous games that were posted online. Rory Cotterill, captain of the Middlesbrough Second XI, came forward to say that his side was subjected to two finger snapings in their opening-day match against the same Saltburn team. But there were also some independent video clips from other games that were popping up in the headlines, so the clever acoustic trick might have been done before.
The North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League, in response to the mass reaction and growing pressure from clubs, responded by saying through social media that it had received a formal complaint and launched an investigation. The league said no public commentary would be made until formal disciplinary procedures were complete. And as the investigation continues to examine the evidence, “Clickgate” has turned into a national discussion about sportsmanship and the poor performance of the officiating system at the grassroots level which is subject to human perception.
