England and Australia question the reliability of the Snickometer in the Adelaide Ashes Test

Ashes rivals England and Australia were united in their growing bewilderment at the reliability of the Snickometer technology on day two of the third Test in Adelaide.

The DRS technology, designed to help umpires get to the edges based on the audio output from the stump microphone, came under fire on the opening day when Australian Alex Carey was wrongly given a reprieve.

He picked the ball on 72 but was spared after operator error produced an unreliable sound wave that showed a pronounced gap between the sound and the ball passing the bat.

Australia scored another 76 runs before Carey was finally dismissed for a century.

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Criticism

England took the matter to referee Jeff Crowe, who duly restored their lost review in what amounted to an admission that they had been wronged, but that was not the end of the matter.

Further problems arose on Thursday when it became clear that none of those involved had confidence in the ‘Snicko’ system, which had also been criticized during the first test in Perth.

Australia were confident Jamie Smith had been caught off the glove on 16, but Snicko’s judgment sided with the England batsman, who indicated the ball had only hit his helmet.

There were also doubts about the slip catch, which almost seemed to hit the ground, but that was not the reason for the no-out ruling.

Dismissed

Pace bowler Mitchell Starc was heard on the stump microphone giving a scathing assessment.

“Snicko should be fired. That’s the worst technology out there,” he said.

“They made a mistake recently and today they’re making another mistake.”

Marnus Labuschagne was also heard to make light of the concussion Smith had to endure, clearly doubting he had been hit on the helmet at all.

Confusion

The confusion continued when Smith was dealt out shortly afterwards, caught pulling Pat Cummins.

Australia were confident they had their man, Smith seemed to think he was innocent, but referee Nitin Menon only added to the sense of uncertainty by handing himself in for a TV review having failed to make a decision.

Smith was then dealt despite yet another sync issue that saw a spike a frame early. He threw up his arms in surprise, while former England spinner Graeme Swann was among those who expressed their anger.

“I don’t want to sound like a whiny pom, but it seems like there’s one rule for one and another for the other. Throw away snicko, it’s nonsense,” he told TNT Sport.

Ridiculous

Alex Hartley on Test Match Special was momentarily stunned.

“This is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. This is where Snicko needs to be fired,” she said.

“Jamie Smith is convinced he didn’t hit him. Australia went up and made a loud noise because everyone knows you don’t trust Snicko now, so appeal to everything and check it out if you have to.”

BBG, which issued a statement accepting responsibility for Carey’s mistake, did not provide a formal response on this occasion but is said to have told broadcasters that they believed both of Smith’s decisions were correct.

READ MORE: England question ‘Snickometer’ after Australian Alex Carey admits he was lucky