NEW DELHI: The third Ashes Test between Australia and England in Adelaide has been rocked by a technology error that helped Aussie wicketkeeper Alex Carey smash his maiden Ashes century.

Carey rode his luck when he was on 72, appearing to nick a delivery from Josh Tongue before being caught by England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith. England's players were convinced there was an edge, but to their dismay on-field umpire Ahsan Raza turned down the appeal, prompting England to opt for the DRS.

Television replays suggested that Carey had made contact, with a faint inside edge clearly visible and an audible sound as the ball went past the bat into Jamie Smith's gloves. Carey himself appeared to acknowledge the touch, gesturing in a manner that indicated he believed he had edged the delivery.

However, England were left bewildered when third umpire Chris Gaffaney chose not to overturn the on-field decision. Gaffaney noted that the Snickometer spike appeared well before the ball reached Carey’s bat, leading him to uphold the original not-out verdict.

The controversy deepened when Carey later conceded during the post-play press conference that he believed he had edged the ball.

Subsequently, BBG Sports - the company behind Snicko - acknowledged responsibility for the error. The firm explained that the audio feed had mistakenly been taken from the bowler's-end stump microphone, resulting in a timing delay that caused the sound spike and the visual footage to fall badly out of sync.

"Given that Alex Carey admitted he had hit the ball in question, the only conclusion that can be drawn is that the Snicko operator selected the wrong stump microphone for audio processing," BBG Sports said in a statement.

Australia on top

Carey posted a hometown hundred and Usman Khawaja scored 82 after a dramatic, last-minute recall to help Australia reach 326/8 at stumps on the first day.

Carey shared partnerships of 91 with Khawaja, who replaced Steve Smith at late notice, 59 with Josh Inglis, 26 with Pat Cummins and 50 with Mitchell Starc to keep Australia's innings moving at around four runs an over. He was out just before stumps for 106, mistiming a slower ball from Jacks.