England's cricket team is preparing to take its mounting frustrations with the Decision Review System's Snicko technology directly to the International Cricket Council, following another contentious moment in the Ashes series in Adelaide.
Carey's Controversial Century
The flashpoint occurred on the opening day of the Adelaide Test on Wednesday, 17 December 2025, when Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey, on 72, appeared to edge a delivery from English bowler Josh Tongue behind. The on-field umpire gave it not out, prompting England to review.
Despite a clear spike appearing on the Snickometer and visible deviation off the bat's bottom edge, the replay showed the sound and vision were not synchronised. This technical discrepancy meant the third umpire could not overturn the original decision, allowing Carey to continue his innings. He was eventually dismissed late in the day for a match-shaping 106.
"I thought there was a bit of a feather or some sort of noise when it passed the bat," Carey admitted after play. "It looked a bit funny on the replay didn't it, with the noise coming early. If I was given out, I think I would have reviewed it, probably not confidently though."
When pressed on how he survived the review, Carey pointed directly at the technology: "Well Snicko obviously didn't line up did it. It's just the way cricket goes sometimes isn't it, you have a bit of luck and maybe it went my way today."
England's Plan for Escalation
England's bowling coach, David Saker, did not mince words in the aftermath, revealing the tourists' intention to lodge a formal grievance. He claimed the Snicko technology has been unreliable throughout the first two Tests of the series.
"The boys were pretty confident he hit it," Saker stated. "I think the Snicko's out quite a bit and it's probably been the case for the series. I can't remember the exact score, but it was a pretty important decision. Those things hurt ... you'd think in this day and age you'd hope the technology's good enough."
Saker confirmed that while no official action had been taken yet, the latest incident would likely trigger a move. "I don't think we've done anything about it so far, but after today, maybe that might go a bit further. There's been concerns about it all series. We shouldn't be talking about that after a day's play, and it should just be better than that."
Expert Analysis Supports England's Claim
Adding significant weight to England's argument, one of the world's most respected former umpires, Simon Taufel, analysed the incident on Channel 7's coverage. Taufel agreed that Carey had likely hit the ball, but blamed a calibration error in the technology for the incorrect outcome.
"The confusing element here for everyone was that the spike occurred at least a couple of frames before the bat," Taufel explained. "My gut tells me from all of my experience on field and also as a TV umpire that I think Alex Carey has actually hit that ball and the technology calibration hasn't been quite right to gain the outcome that it was looking for."
This incident places Carey, whose stumping of Jonny Bairstow at Lord's in 2023 ignited a major Ashes firestorm, once again at the heart of controversy. The looming ICC complaint from England sets the stage for a significant off-field battle over the integrity of the sport's crucial review technology, casting a shadow over the remainder of the series.
