Fuming Nasser Hussain launches tirade at ‘farcical’ Snicko as third Ashes Test is hit by yet another technology meltdown
The crucial third Ashes Test in Adelaide was beset by technical issues once again on Day Two as Jamie Smith was deemed to have missed a delivery which was caught by Usman Khawaja at slip.
After the England wicket-keeper, then on just 16, had initially been given out, the umpires sent the decision upstairs to check whether the ball had carried to Khawaja – which it did.
However despite the delivery clearly appearing to strike Smith’s glove, the review found that the visitors’ batsman had been struck on the helmet meaning he kept his wicket.
It was a decision which was met with huge frustration from the Aussies, with talisman Mitchell Starc even heard calling for Snicko to be ‘sacked’ on the stump microphone.
‘That’s the worst technology there is,’ the fast bowler fumed. ‘They made a mistake the other day and they made another mistake today.’
The mishap only cost the Australians six runs as Smith was dismissed by Pat Cummins just moments later for 22, but it prompted a wave of criticism from bemused pundits.
The second day of the crucial third Ashes Test was beset by technical issues once again on Thursday
England wicket-keeper Jamie Smith was given not out despite clearly appearing to glove a delivery from Pat Cummins
The decision to give Smith not out was once met with utter disbelief in the Australian camp
In a damning statement, Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain claimed that ‘everyone over here has lost faith in the technology’.
‘The players, you could hear on stump mic, some of the Australian players saying, “It’s a joke, it’s a terrible system.”
‘The crowd leaving behind me and people watching at home have completely lost faith in the system and then you get into dangerous territory because everyone starts guessing. The third umpire starts guessing. They’re trying to work out when the noise came and when did it go past the bat.
‘It was farcical today, Jamie Smith clearly gloved one to the slip cordon and all they were checking was whether [Usman] Khawaja took the catch or not.
‘And then, I am not sure that Khawaja did take the catch – it looked like it could be bump-ball. That’s a 50-50 call. But it was overruled on the fact that the third umpire decided that it didn’t hit the glove, because Snicko wasn’t quite aligned with it… It clearly hit the glove.’
It comes just a day after Alex Carey was controversially given not out despite admitting that he felt he edged a delivery from Josh Tongue through to Smith.
The Australian wicket-keeper was on 72 and was given not out on the field, with Ben Stokes quick to review. However the audio seemed to come before the visual, meaning the spike on Snicko appeared before the ball hit the bat and Carey was spared his woes.
Nasser added: ‘You can imagine Australia’s frustration. Forget the (Alex) Carey thing yesterday. Two wrongs don’t make a right. That was just wrong. And then Smith goes for the pull shot.
In a scathing rant, Nasser Hussain claimed that everyone has lost faith in the technology
Mitchell Starc was heard calling for Snicko to be sacked on stump mic moments after Smith was given not out
‘There was a clear gap and he was given out and you can imagine the frustration from Smith and Ben Stokes. He just could not believe it. Everyone out here has lost faith with the technology. That’s a dangerous place to be because in general technology in cricket; cricket has set the tone for how to use technology in sport.
‘It’s not like VAR where there are huge controversies. Cricket and technology and the DRS system has worked. It’s not worked in this series. That’s not me being a “whinging Pom” by the way – it’s been the same for both sides. England aren’t losing this Ashes series because of Snicko technology.’
It was a sentiment echoed by ex-England coach David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd, who even called for reviews to be scrapped from the rest of the series Down Under.
‘I’d be really annoyed, but it’s in the moment and you can’t change it. DRS can either be your friend or your foe. On this occasion, it’s been England’s foe,’ he said on 7Sports.
‘Just say: “There’s no DRS”. Just don’t have it! The umpire decided in his mind that he’s not hit that. And we wouldn’t be talking about that now if we didn’t have DRS. DRS is supposed to improve everything. And now we’re talking about it’s failure. It’s not worked.
‘It’s come out and I’ve seen the statement and they’ve (the company who operates Snicko) have said it’s “human error”!
BBG Sports, the company which owns Snicko, issued a public apology for yesterday’s blunder involving Carey, even admitting to a technical error.
It’s thought that the sound used for the review was mistakenly taken from the stump microphone at the bowlers’ end, meaning there was a discrepancy between the pictures and sound wave shown to viewers.
The decision review system for the series is provided by the hosts’ broadcaster which is Fox, a company that uses BBG to provide Snicko.
It was a bad day all-round for England who head into Day Three 213/8 (Ollie Pope pictured after his dismissal)
But for all the technical issues plaguing the contest, England simply have not been good enough and are now staring down the barrel of a third consecutive defeat.
After cleaning up the tail and bowling the Aussies out for 371 this morning, England floundered with the bat and found themselves three down before they’d reached 50 after Zak Crawley (9), Ben Duckett (29) and Ollie Pope (3) were all dismissed cheaply.
Joe Root was the next to go for 19 before Harry Brook and Ben Stokes launched a fight-back, with the former eventually dismissed off the bowling of Cameron Green for 45.
England head into Day Three with Ben Stokes (45*) and Jofra Archer (30*) at the crease on 213/8.
