The operator of the Snicko technology used in the Ashes has acknowledged a mistake that allowed Australia’s Alex Carey to survive a potential dismissal on the first day of the third Test in Adelaide.
Carey, who top-scored for Australia with 106 in their total of 326-8, had a fortunate escape on 72. England had appealed for a caught-behind off Josh Tongue’s bowling, but umpire Ahsan Raza turned down the appeal. The stump microphones recorded a spike in sound, but replays showed the noise occurred before the ball passed Carey’s bat, and TV umpire Chris Gaffaney upheld the on-field decision.
BBG Sports, the company that owns Snicko, accepted responsibility for the error, which occurred when Australia were 245-6 in the 63rd over. “Given that Alex Carey admitted he had hit the ball in question, the only conclusion is that the Snicko operator selected the wrong stump mic for audio processing,” BBG told BBC Sport. “BBG Sports takes full responsibility for the error.”
Carey, who helped Australia recover from 94-4, said he thought there was “a bit of a feather or some sort of noise” when the ball passed his bat. “It looked a bit funny on the replay 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.”
Joking about cricket’s tradition of ‘walking,’ Carey added: “I’m clearly not a ‘walker.’ Snicko obviously didn’t line up, did it? That’s just the way cricket goes sometimes. You have a bit of luck, and maybe it went my way today.”
The 34-year-old had previously been involved in controversy when his throw led to the stumping of Jonny Bairstow in 2023. “It’s sport, there will always be heroes and villains,” Carey said. “It depends which side of the fence you sit on.”
England’s Australian bowling coach, David Saker, expressed concerns about Snicko throughout the series and suggested the issue might be raised with the match referee. “The boys were pretty confident he hit it. I think the calibration of Snicko is off… There have been things that don’t really measure up. At that stage, it was a pretty important decision.”
England, led by Ben Stokes, trail 2-0 in the five-Test series and face a difficult task to stay in the contest.
