Mitchell Starc calls for Snicko technology to be 'sacked' after more drama on Day 2 of third Ashes Test in Adelaide
Published 18/12/2025 at 23:28 GMT
There was further drama involving edge-detecting technology, Snicko, on Day 2 of the third Ashes Test with both England and Australia left furious about decisions made by the TV umpire. Australia were made to feel slightly better as they finished the day with a healthy 158-run lead, with England eight wickets down in their first innings in Adelaide. Watch the action on TNT Sports and discovery+.
'Snicko needs to be sacked' - Starc fumes at technology as England survive review
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Australia bowler Mitchell Starc has called for Snicko to be "sacked" after the technology took the limelight once again on Day 2 of the third NRMA Insurance men’s Ashes Test in Adelaide.
Snicko - officially known as Real-Time Snickometer - was centre stage on Day 1 after Alex Carey escaped being caught behind on his way to making a century.
The owner of the technology, BBG Sports, took "full responsibility" for the mistake after the sound of Carey’s bat did not match up with the pictures, leading to the TV umpire throwing out England’s review.
However, Day 2 brought double the drama with both teams feeling aggrieved at decisions made using the system.
Firstly, Australia were left furious when Jamie Smith was given not out when he was caught at slip by Usman Khawaja.
TV umpire Chris Gaffaney ruled - after consulting Snicko - that the ball came off Smith’s helmet rather than glove, so England retained their review.
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'Nonsense' - More Snicko controversy as Smith falls
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It is unlikely Smith would have been out anyway, as footage appeared to show the ball touching the ground before ending up in Khawaja’s hands.
However, Starc - not knowing that - was caught on the stump microphone saying: "Snicko needs to be sacked. That's the worst technology there is.
"They make a mistake the other day, and they make another mistake today."
Australia had Smith removed just two overs later, but there was more controversy with the technology.
Smith was caught behind off the bowling of home captain Pat Cummins but, unsure if he hit it, the on-field umpires sent the decision to Gaffaney.
Snicko produced a sound spike, but it was one frame after the ball had passed the bat on the pictures and out of sync again.
Despite this, Smith was dismissed and England’s batting coach Marcus Trescothick called on the "powers that be" to investigate the consistent problems.
"It's not an ideal situation," he said at the end of the day’s play.
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"Of course, we've been on the back end of a poor one yesterday, and a few ones that you sort of question over the course of today. It's up to the powers that be behind the scenes to try and work that out."
Snicko is one of two technologies used by the ICC for edge-detection in cricket, with UltraEdge (owned by HawkEye) the other.
The choice of which one is used comes down to the host broadcaster, who also funds it.
Former umpire Simon Taufel was part of the Channel 7 team in Australia providing analysis of the action.
He was disappointed to see the ‘soft signal’ method removed from the game in 2023.
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This saw umpires give an initial decision, before the third umpire used television replays to make a final call.
Taufel thinks the former system was more natural than what has been seen since the introduction of further technology.
"I love to see umpires making decisions," he said.
"Technology is there to support [umpires]; technology is not there to replace.
"We've gone back 20 years. We've gone back to, when there's an element of doubt with the technology, the batting side are always going to get the benefit and the batter is going to stay there.
"The game deserves better than that and I would love to see the soft signal back in there."
Watch every ball of the Ashes on TNT Sports and discovery+
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