Cricket - The Ashes - Australia v England - Third Test - Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia - December 17, 2025 Australia's Alex Carey in action as he plays a shot from England's Will Jacks before he is caught out by Jamie Smith REUTERS/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
ADELAIDE, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The 'Snicko' technology used in the Ashes came under fresh scrutiny during the third test on Thursday after England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith was dismissed caught behind despite the ball not appearing to have touched his bat.
A day after Alex Carey survived a caught-behind appeal due to an error by the technology's operator, England were left fuming again when Smith was given out for 22 when he took what looked like a fresh-air swipe at a Pat Cummins delivery.
On-field umpire Nitin Menon declined to rule on the appeal, calling on third umpire Chris Gaffaney to review the delivery.
There was no clear image of ball touching bat on the video replay but a spike on Snicko indicated a noise, and with the ball caught above the grass by wicketkeeper Carey Gaffaney instructed Menon to give Smith out.
The England batsman shook his head in disgust as he trudged off, leaving England 159 for six in reply to Australia's 371.
Smith had earlier survived a caught-behind appeal when on 16 after a Cummins ball appeared to deflect off his gloves and helmet to Usman Khawaja in the slips.
After using the technology to review the delivery Gaffaney decided the ball had missed the glove, though it was also unclear whether Khawaja had caught it before it touched the grass.
Australia were upset by that outcome, with Starc's derision picked up by the stumps microphone.
"Snicko needs to be sacked," he said.
"That's the worst technology there is. They make a mistake yesterday, they make another mistake today."
A Snicko error on Wednesday cost England a vital wicket on day one when Carey survived an appeal, the keeper later admitting he had hit the ball from Josh Tongue.
Cricket Australia boss Todd Greenberg criticised the technology, saying the governing body was seeking answers from its operator.
"It certainly caused me some heartburn because the whole idea of technology is to take away the clanger or the howler,” Greenberg said.
“From what I can understand having dug into it last night and this morning is human error. There’s two human errors there - one is the actual decision from the umpire and then there’s supposed to be a fail-safe with the technology and it didn’t happen.
“In my view it’s not good enough. We’re asking a lot of questions of the provider through the broadcasters and we’re hoping to get some answers so we can be assured it won’t happen again.”
Carey was on 72 when he edged Tongue's delivery through to wicketkeeper Smith but England's appeal was turned down and the decision stood after they reviewed the decision.
Snicko picked up a sound but it did not align with the ball's flight past the bat in the video review of the dismissal.
The reprieved Carey scored another 34 runs before he was dismissed for an innings-high 106 late on Wednesday.
Snicko's provider BBG Sports took full responsibility, blaming human error for selecting "the wrong stump (microphone) for audio processing".
England lost a review for failing to overturn the decision but the match official reinstated it.
Australia were bowled out for 371 early on day two on Thursday after winning the toss and choosing to bat.
The hosts lead the series 2-0 after wins in Perth and Brisbane.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Adelaide; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
