England’s uneasy relationship with on-field technology came under the spotlight on the opening day of the third Ashes Test, after a Snicko error allowed Alex Carey to survive a surprise appeal and forced the ICC to intervene. The incident reignited the debate over how reliable audio-based edge detection is, especially in closely-packed Test matches where a single moment can change the course of the game.
The flashpoint arrived with Carey on 72, chasing a delivery off Josh Tongue. England was convinced they heard the nicknamebut on-field umpire Ahsan Raza said no. England reviewed the decision, only third umpire Chris Gaffaney upheld it. Although there was a real-time spike on the Snickometer, there were several snaps before the ball passed the bat, so Gaffaney wasn’t convinced there was enough evidence to overturn the call.
AUS vs ENG, Ashes 3rd Test in Adelaide: Update
Watch the video:
Soon after, the source of the confusion became clearer. BBG Sports, which supplies the Snicko technology, claimed responsibility for the failure.
“The only conclusion that can be drawn from this is that operator Snicko must have selected the wrong stub microphone for audio processing at the time. In light of this, BBG Sports takes full responsibility for the error,” BBG said in a statement.
Carey made England pay for the reprieve, pushing for a score of 106 as Australia closed the first day on 326 for eight. To England’s further frustration, the goalkeeper later admitted that he thought he had beaten the ball and described himself as enjoying “a bit of luck”. The admission added weight to England’s grievance, with head coach Brendon McCullum and team manager Wayne Bentley raising the issue with match referee Jeff Crowe. Under ICC playing conditions, Crowe reinstated one of the English reviews after acknowledging a confirmed technology failure.
The episode also drew criticism from England bowling coach David Saker, who suggested that doubts about the system had simmered throughout the series.
“It was a pretty big decision at that stage. These things hurt, but you get over it. You’d think in this day and age the technology would be good enough to pull things off like that. There were concerns throughout the series. We shouldn’t be talking about it after a day of playing, it should be better than that,” Saker said.
Even former Australia captain Ricky Ponting echoed these concerns, questioning whether umpires could fully rely on the system.
“The technology that we use here (in Australia) is just not as good as the technology that is used in other countries. If you talk to the umpires, they will tell you the same thing. They can’t believe it,” Ponting said.
“There’s a third umpire sitting there who has to make a decision based on what they see the technology providing, and sometimes they feel it’s not right. That can’t happen. You have to be able to trust the technology that’s in place,” he added.
With the ICC now set to further investigate the incident and the ECB pushing for changes, Carey’s saga has highlighted once again how quickly faith in the technology to control decisions at the highest level can crumble.
– The end
Issued by:
Debodinna Chakraborty
Published on:
December 18, 2025
