The third Ashes Test between England and Australia in Adelaide has been overshadowed by controversy, with snicko technology coming under intense scrutiny after a series of questionable decisions across the first two days.
On Day 1, Australia’s Alex Carey was given not out after the snickometer showed no bat-ball contact before wicketkeeper Jamie Smith completed a catch. Carey went on to score a century, only to later admit that the ball had, in fact, brushed his bat and that he should have been out.
‘Everyone has lost faith in Snicko’, what England believes in
The controversy deepened on Day 2 when England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith survived a similar call. The decision sparked widespread debate, with former England captain Nasser Hussain delivering a scathing assessment of the technology and its impact on the game.
“England aren’t 2-0 down because of Snicko, and they’re not losing the Ashes because of it,” Hussain said on Sky Sports. “But everyone out here has lost faith in Snicko. You could hear Australian players on the stump mic saying it’s a joke or a terrible system.”
Hussain warned that the loss of trust in technology places the game in dangerous territory. “When the crowd and viewers at home stop believing in the system, you’re left with the third umpire guessing — trying to work out when the noise came and when the ball passed the bat,” he said.
Describing the Jamie Smith incident as “farcical, Hussain insisted the technology had overridden common sense. “Smith clearly gloved the ball to the slip cordon. All that should have been checked was whether Usman Khawaja took the catch cleanly,” he said.
“I’m not even sure Khawaja caught it cleanly; it could have been a bump ball, a 50-50 call. But the decision was overturned because the third umpire decided the ball didn’t hit the glove since Snicko wasn’t aligned. It clearly hit the glove.”
Hussain acknowledged Australia’s frustration, even after Carey benefited from a similar call the previous day. “Forget the Carey incident, two wrongs don’t make a right. That decision was simply wrong,” he said.
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The fallout continued moments later when Smith was dismissed attempting a pull shot, leaving both him and England captain Ben Stokes visibly stunned. “You could see the disbelief. Everyone out here has lost faith in the technology, and that’s a dangerous place to be,” Hussain added.
He concluded by warning that cricket, long seen as a benchmark for the use of technology in sport, risks undermining its own standards. “This isn’t football’s VAR, where controversy is expected. Cricket has always set the tone and that’s why this is so concerning.”
