Former England skipper Michael Atherton on Saturday (July 11) became a victim of x-rated Twitter prank while commentating during the ongoing Test between England and West Indies in Southampton.

Club cricket returned in England after a lengthy COVID-19 hiatus on Saturday and Atherton, while on air, asked people to inform him about any achievement from the games.

Subsequently, a Twitter user named Charlie Hilton tried to trick Atherton into reading a made-up name and the commentator hilariously fell for it.

“Unbelievable scenes for Cockermouth Cricket Club, with Hugh Jardon bowling 6 for 9!” Hilton tweeted.

Unfortunately, Atherton read out the tweet loud and clear when he was on air. He realised the trap later and was left embarrassed. Meanwhile, his gaffe left co-commentators Rob Key and Ian Ward in splits.

Coming to the Test match, England have managed a lead of 170 runs with a couple of wickets left in their second innings at the close of the fourth day’s play.

While the hosts scored 204 in their first innings, the West Indies replied with a total of 318 on the back of Kraigg Brathwaite (65) and Shane Dowrich’s (61) fifties.