The first day of the third Ashes 2025-26 Test match between England and Australia in Adelaide was marred by controversy when wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey was incorrectly not given out on his way to his first century in the rivalry. Snicko then accepted "full responsibility," stating it was an operational error that cost England.
The event happened on the opening ball of the 63rd over, when Josh Tongue bowled a length delivery outside off stump to Carey, who was on 72.
The Australian swung his bat at the ball, eliciting a strong appeal from England, with wicketkeeper Jamie Smith especially sure of an under-edge. Ahsan Raza, the on-field umpire, remained unimpressed.
The Snickometer revealed that there was no spike when the ball was near the bat when it was sent upstairs for a review. Snicko actually experienced a significant surge when the ball was far from the bat. As a result, TV umpire Chris Gaffaney asked Raza to maintain his first choice to stay out. Carey later acknowledged that he had a slight edge on the delivery, though.
Carey, who survived the drama, went on to score his maiden Ashes century as Australia bounced back from 94-4 to 326-8.
"I thought there was a bit of a feather or some sort of noise when it passed the bat. It looked a bit funny on the replay, didn't it? With the noise coming early. But if I was given out, I think I would have reviewed it, probably not confidently though. It was a nice sound as it passed the bat. Snicko obviously didn't line up, and that's just the way cricket goes sometimes," Carey told the reporters at the end of Day 1 in Adelaide.
After the end of Day 1's play at the Adelaide Oval, BBG Sports, the company that owns Snicko, took full responsibility for the error.
"Given that Alex Carey admitted he had hit the ball in question, the only conclusion that can be drawn from this is that the Snicko operator at the time must have selected the incorrect stump mic for audio processing. In light of this, BBG Sports takes full responsibility for the error,” the company was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.
The Snicko spike did not match the video replay because, according to the BBC report, the sound utilized for the review came from the bowler's stump mic rather than the striker's.
In the series, Snicko has already been at the center of several conflicts. Even though replays revealed the Snicko spike occurred after the ball had passed the bat, Jamie was declared caught behind in the first Test in Perth.
