Snicko technology came under renewed scrutiny during the third Ashes Test on Thursday after a controversial dismissal of England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.
Smith fell for 22 after officials ruled him caught behind, even though replays showed no clear contact between bat and ball. He appeared to swing at fresh air while facing a delivery from Pat Cummins.
On-field umpire Nitin Menon referred the appeal to third umpire Chris Gaffaney. Video footage showed no visible edge. However, Snicko registered a sound spike. Alex Carey completed the catch cleanly behind the stumps, and Gaffaney instructed Menon to give Smith out. Smith shook his head in disbelief as he walked off. England slipped to 159 for six in reply to Australia’s first-innings total of 371.
Earlier in the innings, Smith survived another caught-behind appeal on 16. A Cummins delivery appeared to brush his glove and helmet before flying to Usman Khawaja at slip. After review, officials ruled no contact, although replays also raised doubts about whether Khawaja completed the catch cleanly.
Jamie Smith was given not out after this decision, but what's your take on this call?#Ashes | #DRSChallenge | @Westpac pic.twitter.com/4Yf3o7FgBj
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 18, 2025Australia expressed frustration over that decision. The stump microphone picked up Mitchell Starc’s comments. “Snicko needs to be sacked,” Starc said. “That’s the worst technology there is. They made a mistake yesterday and another one today.”
The controversy followed a similar incident on day one. Alex Carey survived a caught-behind appeal despite later admitting he edged Josh Tongue’s delivery. Snicko detected a sound, but the audio failed to align with the ball’s path on replay.
After the Snicko controversy on Day 1, we've had another couple of incidents involving the technology.
Jamie Smith was first adjudged not to have gloved one, which Australia disagreed with. A few overs later, he was given out for an edge, which he was then not impressed by. pic.twitter.com/qbLggJONDa
— Test Match Special (@bbctms) December 18, 2025Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg criticised the technology and confirmed officials had raised concerns with the provider. “The whole point of technology is to remove clear mistakes,” Greenberg said. “What we saw was human error. The system had a fail-safe, and it didn’t work.”
Snicko provider BBG Sports accepted full responsibility. The company said officials selected the wrong stump microphone during audio processing.
Carey made the most of his reprieve. He added 34 runs and finished with an innings-high 106 before England dismissed him late on Wednesday. England initially lost a review over the Smith decision, but match officials later reinstated it.
