The third match of the five-match Ashes series between Australia and England is being played in Adelaide. Australia team is ahead 2-0 in the test series. If the Kangaroo team wins this match, it will once again win the Ashes. On the other hand, England is eyeing a comeback. There has been an uproar over the ‘Snicko’ technique in the Adelaide Test, at the center of which was Australian batsman Alex Carey.
This dispute happened in the 63rd over of Australia’s first innings. In that over, Alex Carey tried to play a cut shot on the first ball of Josh Tong. However, he was not completely successful in this endeavor. The ball touched the bat lightly and went to wicketkeeper Jamie Smith and he took the catch. England players started appealing strongly for being caught behind. However, umpire Ahsan Raza ruled in favor of the batsman. The English players were shocked and captain Ben Stokes took the decision review system (DRS).
A spike appeared on the snickometer, but that was 2-3 frames before the ball passed the bat. Third umpire Chris Gaffney agreed that there was a clear gap between the bat and the ball and there was no spike. Gaffney ruled in favor of Alex Carey. The England team was not satisfied with this decision and also lost a review. According to ESPN Cricinfo, after the end of the first day’s play, England head coach Brendon McCullum and team manager Wayne Bentley discussed the issue with match referee Jeff Crowe. Also, the England Cricket Board (ECB) demanded a review of this technology from the International Cricket Council (ICC).
What steps did ICC take?
ICC accepted the technical mistake and reinstated England’s DRS. ICC confirmed that this decision was taken after discussions with broadcast partner BBG Sport. BBG Sport is the supplier of Snickometer technology. Interestingly, Australian batsman Alex Carey also admitted that perhaps the ball had hit the bat. Carey said, ‘I felt like the ball had touched something. At that time you trust the system, but it seemed that the players knew more than the screen.
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BBG Sports said that the wrong stump mic was chosen and took full responsibility for this mistake. The company also apologized for this. On this whole matter, England’s fast bowling coach David Sacker also raised questions on the technique. He said, ‘We should not talk about this after one day’s play is over. In today’s time, technology should be so good that such things can be clearly detected.
Alex Carey took advantage of this technical flaw and scored a brilliant 106 runs. Thanks to Carey’s brilliant century, Australia scored 371 runs in its first innings. Usman Khawaja (82 runs) and Mitchell Starc (54 runs) also scored useful runs.
England’s playing eleven: Jack Crowley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Will Jacques, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue.
Australia’s playing eleven: Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland.
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