England weigh formal protest over Snicko error that spared Carey and altered Ashes momentum
3rd Test, Day 1: Australia 326-8 (83 overs) with Carey's 106 and Khawaja's 82; Archer 3-29 for England
England are weighing a formal complaint about the Snicko technology used in this Ashes series after Alex Carey escaped a dismissal on the opening day of the third Test in Adelaide.
Carey, who eventually reached 106 in Australia’s 326 for eight, was on 72 when Josh Tongue believed there was an edge behind off his bat. He was not given out on the field, and the third umpire, Chris Gaffaney, deemed there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn the on-field decision despite a spike appearing during the review.
The tricky element here was that the spike appeared before any contact on the replay, whereas earlier episodes in the series have shown spikes after contact and were incorporated into umpiring protocols.
Carey later admitted he thought he had made contact with the ball, and the wicketkeeper said he would have reviewed had he been given out. BBG, the owner of Snicko, acknowledged the error, which occurred when Australia were 245 for six.
BBG Sports issued a statement to BBC Sport: “The only conclusion that can be drawn is that the Snicko operator at the time selected the incorrect stump mic for audio processing. In light of this, BBG Sports accepts full responsibility for the mistake.”
The tech relies on audio from stump microphones, and in this case it’s believed the feed from the non-striker’s end may have been used in error. Regardless, England were unhappy, with bowling coach David Saker signaling a possible complaint to match referee Jeff Crowe.
“We thought he hit it,” said Saker. “The Snicko calibration seems off quite a bit, and that’s probably been the case across the series. There have been issues that don’t quite measure up.
At a crucial moment, such decisions sting. Yet you push through. In today’s era you’d expect technology to reliably detect such events. We haven’t acted on it yet, but perhaps today changes that. There have been concerns all series. It shouldn’t still be a talking point after a day’s play.”
While technology is mandatory for the World Test Championship, Real Time Snicko via Fox Sports (Australia) is considered less advanced than the Ultra-Edge system used by Sky Sports in England.
Carey commented: “There was a bit of feather or noise when it passed the bat. The replay looked a bit odd—the noise came early. If I’d been given out, I would have reviewed, though not with much confidence. It sounded nice as it passed the bat.
Snicko obviously didn’t line up. That’s cricket for you—sometimes you get luck, sometimes you don’t.”
