England will consider making a formal complaint about the quality of the technology in use during the Ashes after Australia’s wicketkeeper Alex Carey admitted getting away with a thin edge on the first day of the crucial third Test in Adelaide.
Carey, who went on to make an emotional century at his home ground as Australia closed on 326 for eight, had 72 when he appeared to underedge a delivery from Josh Tongue through to Jamie Smith, even indicating to England’s fielders that he thought he had hit it.
But the RTS – Real-Time Snicko – being used in this series has regularly failed to align the audio and visual components of reviews, unlike the more accurate Ultra-Edge used in Tests in England. In this instance, the audio seemed to come before the visual, meaning the spike on Snicko appeared before the ball hit the bat.
That persuaded TV umpire Chris Gaffaney to reject England’s review, leaving bowling coach David Saker to complain: ‘The boys were pretty confident he hit it. I think the calibration of the snick is out quite a bit and that has probably been the case for the series. There’s been some things that don’t really measure up.
‘At that stage, it was a pretty important decision. Those things hurt, but you get through it. In this day and age you’d think the technology is good enough to pick things up like that.’
Asked if England might take the matter up with officials, he replied: ‘I don’t think we’ve done anything about it so far, but after today, maybe that might go a bit further. There have been concerns about it for the whole series. We shouldn’t be talking about this after a day’s play, it should just be better than that. It is what it is.’
BBG Sports, the company which owns Snicko, have since publicly apologised for what they have admitted was a technical error.
‘Given that Alex Carey admitted he had hit the ball in question, the only conclusion that can be drawn from this is that the Snicko operator at the time must have selected the incorrect stump mic for audio processing,’ a statement read.
‘In light of this, BBG Sports takes full responsibility for the error.’
It’s thought that the sound used for the review was mistakenly taken from the stump microphone at the bowlers’ end, meaning there was a discrepancy between the pictures and sound save shown to viewers.
The decision review system for the series is provided by the hosts’ broadcaster which, for The Ashes, is Fox, a company that uses BBG to provide Snicko.
The mishap was met with a huge wave of criticism from English pundits covering the series on Australian soil, with former fast bowler Steven Finn even calling for Snicko to be discontinued.
‘Ashes series usually end people’s careers. It might be the end of Snicko’s career at the one of this one,’ Finn fumed on TNT Sports.
‘It has performed awfully throughout the series. There’s been three or four incidents, so hopefully they can sharpen that.’
There have indeed been concerns about the accuracy of Snicko Down Under since the series began in Perth in late November.
England’s wicketkeeper Smith looked bemused in the first Test when he was given out on review despite a spike appearing after the ball had passed his bat. Responding to criticism about that decision, broadcasters explained that technology used in Australia has a two-frame gap between the pictures and sound wave.
It’s not the first time Carey, who is something of a pantomime villain to England fans, has been at the centre of a controversy in an Ashes series.
Back in 2021 at Lord’s, he was the wicket-keeper who famously stumped Jonny Bairstow after the Yorkshireman had left his crease because he believed the ball was dead.
The dismissal caused uproar, with the Australians booed and jeered later that day as they returned to their dressing room through the Long Room at the home of cricket.
Carey admitted after the close of play in Adelaide that he thought he nicked Tongue’s delivery, calling into question why he didn’t walk.
‘I thought there was a bit of a feather or some sort of noise when it passed the bat,’ he said. ‘It looked a bit funny on the replay, didn’t it, with the noise coming early.
‘If I was given out, I think I would have reviewed it – probably not confidently, though. It was a nice sound as it passed the bat, yeah.
‘Snicko obviously didn’t line up, did it? That’s just the way cricket goes sometimes, isn’t it? You have a bit of luck, and maybe it went my way today.’
Asked if he was a walker, Carey replied: ‘Clearly not.’
The Australians finished the scorching hot day in Tasmania on 326-8 thanks to a fight back from Carey and Khawaja after a difficult start.
The hosts’ top three of Travis Head, Jake Weatherald and Marnus Labuschagne were all dismissed without reaching 20 before Khawaja, a late replacement for the ill Steve Smith, came to the crease at No 4.
The veteran scored 82 before being dismissed by spinner Will Jacks, who also eventually got Carey caught behind for a well made 106.
Day Two will begin with Mitchell Starc (33) and Nathan Lyon (0) at the crease.
