'Snicko needs to be sacked' - Aussies fume in latest controversy

Mitchell Starc called for Snicko to be "sacked" after the edge-detection technology's reliability came under the scanner for a second consecutive day in the third Ashes Test at Adelaide Oval, as Cricket Australia's chief executive sought answers over its previous malfunction.

England had a review reinstated by match referee Jeff Crowe on the second morning after BBG Sports, the suppliers of Snicko, conceded operator error had led to an incorrect reprieve for Alex Carey during his opening-day century. The ECB plans to lobby the ICC to review its protocols and systems as a result of the error.

Australia's players were then incensed when Jamie Smith was adjudged not out when the on-field umpires reviewed a possible catch at first slip by Usman Khawaja off Pat Cummins' bowling. Chris Gaffaney, the TV umpire, suggested that the ball had hit Smith on the helmet after consulting Snicko, but Australia were convinced that it had hit him on the glove.

"Snicko needs to be sacked. That's the worst technology there is," Starc said, standing close to the stump microphone, after the decision was confirmed. "They make a mistake the other day, and they make another mistake today."

Smith himself was left frustrated when given out caught behind off Cummins two overs later, when Snicko showed a spike one frame after the ball had passed the bat (within the accepted margin for error). The on-field umpires had not made a decision and instead referred it to Gaffaney.

Simon Taufel, the award-winning former umpire, argued that the ICC had made an error when removing the 'soft signal' from the game two years ago. "I love to see umpires making decisions," Taufel told Channel 7. "Technology is there to support [umpires]; technology is not there to replace.

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

Snicko, officially Real-Time Snickometer, is one of two edge-detection technologies licensed by the ICC along with the more commonly-used UltraEdge, which is owned by HawkEye. The choice of technology falls on the host broadcaster, who are also responsible for its funding, and Snicko is understood to be the cheaper of the two options.

Todd Greenberg, CA's chief executive, told SEN Radio that the governing body were "asking the right questions of the right people" after the error on the opening day. "The short answer is we're not happy with it," Greenberg said. "We don't think it's good enough, and we definitely think that we need to be assured that it won't happen again."

Any changes to protocols or licensed technologies would need to be approved and signed off by the ICC's cricket committee and chief executives' committee at their next meetings. The ICC declined to comment when contacted by ESPNcricinfo.

Marcus Trescothick, England's batting coach, called on "the powers that be" to resolve the matter. "It's not an ideal situation," he said. "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."

Ricky Ponting, the former Australia captain, was critical of Snicko earlier on the second day. "This technology that we are using here is simply not as good as technology that's used in other countries," he told Channel 7. "You talk to the umpires, they'll tell you the same thing. They can't trust it.

"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."

Nathan Lyon refused to answer questions about Snicko in his close-of-play press conference, saying: "I'm not going to comment on the DRS."