England wins review back after Snicko drama
England have been awarded a review back after an admission that human error cost them the key wicket of Alex Carey on day one in Adelaide.
England have had a review reinstated after the operators of Snicko admitted their error wrongly denied the tourists Alex Carey’s wicket on day one.
Carey survived an appeal for caught behind when on 72, playing at a ball from Josh Tongue that went through to the wicketkeeper.
England reviewed the decision and there was a noise, but the spike on Snicko did not line up close enough to when the ball passed the bat.
The founder of BBG, who operate Snicko, has since admitted human error was at fault and Carey must have hit the ball.
Carey went on to make 106 as Australia reached 8-326 at stumps on day one of the third Test. They were 6-245 at the time of the flashpoint.
After play, the wicketkeeper-batter conceded he’d heard the noise as the ball went past the bat.
England then spoke with match referee Jeff Crowe, who has since agreed that a fault occurred and handed the review back to England.
It means the tourists will start Thursday with two reviews left, rather than one.
The ECB are expected to raise the issue with the ICC around ensuring the reliability of the technology, with Cricket Australia also asking questions of the operators.
“Given that Alex Carey admitted he had hit the ball in question, the only conclusion that can be drawn from this, is that the Snicko operator at the time must have selected the incorrect stump mic for audio processing,” BBG founder Warren Brennan said in a statement on Wednesday night.
“In light of this, BBG Sports takes full responsibility for the error.”
You might like
Carey himself admitted on Thursday morning he had been relieved when he saw the gap between the spike on Snicko and the ball passing his bat.
“You need a bit of luck in cricket sometimes and yesterday I had that luck,” Carey said on SEN.
“I was just happy it was out of sync. Once you see the umpire doesn’t give it and the third umpire doesn’t give it you move on pretty quickly.
“After play we heard about what goes with that. But after that it was nothing out of the ordinary, stay in the moment, stay focused and keep on batting.”
England bowling coach David Saker made no secret of his frustration after play on day one.
“They boys were pretty confident,” Saker said.
“I think the calibration of Snicko (has been) out quite a bit and that’s been probably the case for the series.
“There’s been some things that don’t really measure up.
“And at that stage, I can’t remember the exact score, but it was a pretty important decision.
“So those things hurt but we’ll get through it.
“But you’d think in this day and age, you would think the technology is good enough to pick things up like that.”
Khawaja gives selectors another headache
Usman Khawaja may have handed Test selectors one final headache after adding another chapter to his never-say-die career in Adelaide.
Dropped seven times by Test selectors before this week, Khawaja’s career appeared over when overlooked on his return from back spasms on Tuesday.
But Steve Smith’s vertigo, coupled with Khawaja’s stylish 82 in the third Ashes Test on Wednesday, will provide food for thought for the rest of the series.
As far back as the 2019 Ashes, Khawaja conceded he may never play for Australia again before his twin tons filling in for Travis Head in Sydney in 2022 revitalised his career.
Stay informed, daily
For the next two years Khawaja averaged 58.7 in Test cricket and hit seven centuries, becoming one of the heroes of Australia’s retention of the Ashes in 2023.
But when the runs dried up and Khawaja passed 50 just twice in 27 Test innings before being left out of the side this week, the late-career revival looked over.
And while Pat Cummins insisted on Tuesday that Khawaja, who turns 39 on Thursday, could still return to the team it seemed extremely unlikely.
Australia had locked in Travis Head and Jake Weatherald to open for this Ashes series and it’s hard to see Australia recalling a 39-year-old to face Bangladesh in August.
Then less than 24 hours later when Smith was ruled out with vertigo, Khawaja’s eighth dropping became his shortest of all.
Walking out at No.4 he scored fives runs from his first 27 balls, before being put down by Harry Brook at second slip.
Then, the Test veteran was spurred back to life.
Appearing as his old laconic self, he swept, cut and pulled his way to 82 while appearing to do it with ease, scoring 78 from 98 balls after being put down.
It helped Australia to 8-326 on Wednesday, with Alex Carey scoring 106 and the pair combining for a 91-run fourth-wicket to stand to help the hosts recover from 4-94.
“He’s a quality player,” Carey said.
“It was a matter of time for him to score. Been in good nick in Sheffield Shield cricket.
“We saw what Trav did in Perth. We know what Weathers is doing. And sometimes timing and luck in the game doesn’t quite go your way.
“But for him to come in, he’s still really hungry to improve and play good cricket for Australia and to help us win a series.
“I still think he’s got so much to give to this group. And we saw again today, he played really well.”
Khawaja’s runs will at least pose questions for selectors ahead of the Boxing Day Test. But staying in the side if Smith returns as expected would take a big call.
Josh Inglis, who essentially replaced Khawaja in the XI, has scores of 23 and 32. But he is a player for the future.
Cameron Green is the batter low on runs, but his bowling means Beau Webster would be the man to replace him.
But as has often proven the case, Khawaja’s career should never be written off.
-with AAP
