More Snicko controversy as England's Jamie Smith given out on another day of drama in third Ashes Test - 'I'm burning up here!'
Published 18/12/2025 at 23:29 GMT
England fans and pundits were left livid after Jamie Smith was controversially given out for caught behind, with the Snickometer again at the centre of the drama. The replays were inconclusive, but Smith had to go, leaving England in a deep hole in the must-win third Ashes Test in Adelaide. Steven Finn, Graeme Swann and Alastair Cook all reacted angrily, calling for the technology to be binned.
'Nonsense' - More Snicko controversy as Smith falls
Video credit: TNT Sports
England were once again on the wrong end of the technology after Jamie Smith was controversially dismissed on Day 2 of the third NRMA Insurance men’s Ashes series Test in Adelaide.
Smith was given out after a third-umpire review judged he had edged the ball to Alex Carey, leaving the tourists on 159/6, 212 runs behind.
Several pundits called for the ‘Snickometer’ technology used in Australia to be binned after it had also failed to pick up an edge from Carey on Day 1, which the wicketkeeper later admitted to hitting.
Former England spinner Graeme Swann said he was "burning up" and "absolutely fuming" as he pointed to the double standards from the Australian players.
"Without sounding like a whinging Pom, it seems like one rule for one, and one for another," co-commentator Swann said on TNT Sports.
"That’s nonsense, it’s exactly the same as Carey’s, but Smith has to go. Throw the Snicko out, it’s a waste of everyone’s time. It’s making it more complicated than it should be and the game suffers as a result.
"Whoever’s operating Snicko has got to say ‘I had a stinker yesterday and I’ve had another stinker now,’ because I can’t tell."
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Finn: Why 'sub-standard' snicko 'failed England'
Video credit: TNT Sports
Snickometer, commonly known as 'Snicko', was invented in the 1990s as a method of determining if a batter had edged the ball and was commonly used when the Decision Review System (DRS) was introduced in 2008.
However, it has been replaced by the more accurate UltraEdge in most countries, but Australia persists with Snicko, which relies on human input to match images and noises, which can be misaligned.
BGG Sports, the company that operates Snicko, took full responsibility for the error surrounding Carey on Wednesday.
Ex-England bowler Steven Finn said: "Snicko’s done. Snicko’s finished. Last series, throw it out, put it in the bin!"
He added: "We can chalk this down as a 'moral win' for England with all the Snicko dramas!"
Finn also questioned the choice to send the decision to the third umpire without an on-field decision.
The umpires wanted to check if Carey had taken the catch cleanly, but it was clearly evident that the catch was legal.
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'Where's the noise coming from?' - Snicko confusion debated as Carey survives
Video credit: TNT Sports
Finn said: "They didn’t give a decision, and he went upstairs to see if it had carried, but never put his finger up to say it was out.
"Had put his finger up to say it was out, Jamie Smith would have reviewed it. That’s why his hand was hovering around his bat, to say, ‘I will review that because I don’t think I’ve hit it’.
"A very strange scenario."
Former England captain Alastair Cook also questioned Snicko’s future in the sport, as well as the lack of control umpires Ahsan Raza and Nitin Menon showed in handling the situation.
"I think I’m as confused as everyone else," Cook said. "I do love the game of cricket, though something isn’t quite right.
"How many times does it just throw up another example of it, or get everyone to be tested?
"Snicker is having an absolute stinker."
He added: "The umpires need to take control on the field. You can't have 11 Australians shouting their opinion and two Englishmen shouting their opinion."
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Swann was far more scathing and lamented the human error within using the technology, drawing parallels to football’s Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
He said: "Most people back home will be football fans, and have this argument every week [about VAR].
"It's not so much the technology, it's when you can see something so obviously has gone wrong, and it's the human side of it. Who's pressed the wrong button?
"The man from Snicko needs a holiday in Noosa... It's five minutes where cricket is just a joke.
"Cricket makes itself so open to ridicule sometimes."
Smith’s dismissal may have put the must-win Test beyond England, who needed to win after falling 2-0 behind as they search for their first series win in Australia since 2011.
The tourists need to win all three remaining Tests, but are set to be well behind after the first innings in the third Test as Pat Cummins took three wickets for the Aussies on his return from injury.
Thoughts?
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