Fresh Error of Judgement Sparks Aussie Anger Over Controversial Snickometer Readings

The efficacy of Snicko once again came under scrutiny when England’s Jamie Smith got a reprieve on the second day of the Adelaide Test. Australia were convinced that the ball had brushed Smith’s gloves, while Snicko indicated that the sound came from the ball hitting the helmet. This error in judgment angered the Australians, who called such technological blunders unacceptable in high-profile Ashes matches.

The technology had already become a point of concern on the first day, when a similar incident involving Australia’s Alex Carey occurred on the field. England were convinced that the ball had hit the bat, while Snicko's readings suggested otherwise. The recurrence of a similar mistake has now put the technology under serious question, with both teams expressing their reservations strongly.

Australia’s pace spearhead Mitchell Starc looked visibly furious when Snicko displayed a bizarre result on the second day of the Adelaide test. He said the technology should be sacked, as it is not offering accurate judgment for particular points.

"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," said Mitchell Starc while standing close to the stump microphone after Jamie Smith was given not out.

The award-winning ICC umpire, Simon Taufel, has also said that the decisions of on-field umpires are more credible than using any technology. He said digital equipment should be used to assist umpires in making decisions, not to fully replace them.

"I love to see umpires making decisions. Technology is there to support [umpires]; technology is not there to replace,” said Simon Taufel while speaking to the media.

He argued that faulty technology has taken the game 20 years backwards, which is not a good sign for the improvement of cricket. He added that technical mistakes like these can always give batters an advantage, so relevant authorities need to look at this issue with an open mindset.

"We've gone back 20 years. We've gone back to when there's an element of doubt with the technology, the batting side is 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," said Simon Taufel.

The chief executive of Cricket Australia (CA), Todd Greenberg, has said that the governing body is not happy with the incidents that have taken place recently. They are treating the matter with serious concern and are trying their best to prevent such incidents from happening again.

"The short answer is we're not happy with it. We don't think it's good enough, and we definitely think that we need to be assured that it won't happen again," said chief executive of Cricket Australia, Todd Greenberg.

Trescothick and Ponting Shares Similar Concerns

Marcus Trescothick, England’s batting coach, has also urged the authorities to resolve the matter as soon as possible. He said the technical error was evident again on the second day, after it had already led to an adverse decision for England on the first day.

"It's not an ideal situation. 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 for the powers that be behind the scenes to try and work that out," said England batting coach, Marcus Trescothick.

The former captain of Australia, Ricky Ponting, shared similar concerns about the use of current technology in the Ashes. He said Snicko is not as reliable as the technology used in other countries. It produced a poor decision on the first day and followed it up with another controversial call on the second day.

"This technology that we are using here is simply not as good as the technology that's used in other countries. You talk to the umpires, they'll tell you the same thing. They can't trust it,” said Ricky Ponting.

"They've got a third umpire sitting up in there that's got to make decisions based on what he's seeing that the technology is providing, and sometimes they have a gut feel that it's not right. That can't happen. You've got to be able to trust the technology that's in place," concluded Ricky Ponting.