What should have been a defining Test match moment at Adelaide instead turned into a crisis of credibility. Over two chaotic days in the third Ashes Test, technology — not bat or ball — became the central character, leaving players, officials, and fans questioning whether cricket’s most trusted system can still be relied upon. As confusion spread across the ground and frustration echoed through the stump microphones, former England captain Nasser Hussain delivered a scathing assessment of a system he believes has lost the confidence of everyone watching.
Speaking to Sky Sports during the Test, Hussain was careful to separate England’s struggles from the technology itself before turning his attention to what he described as a breakdown in trust.
‘England aren’t losing because of Snicko’
Hussain began by making one thing clear: England’s position in the Ashes was not being shaped by faulty technology.
“England aren’t 2-0 down and had another bad day because of Snicko. England are not losing the Ashes because of the Snicko.”
Yet while performance and technology were separate issues, the growing disbelief around Snicko was impossible to ignore. Hussain pointed to a rare alignment of frustration across both teams and the stands. “But I will say everyone out here has lost faith in Snicko. You could hear on the stump mic, some of the Australian players saying ‘it’s a joke’ or that ‘it’s a terrible system’. The crowd in the stands or the people watching at home, have completely lost faith with the system. Then you get into dangerous territory. You have the third umpire guessing, They’re trying to work out when the noise came, when did the ball go past the bat.”
Jamie Smith incidents push controversy to boiling point
The anger was sparked by two separate moments involving England batter Jamie Smith, both of which left officials relying on technology that appeared inconsistent. Hussain described the first decision as indefensible. “It was farcical today. Jamie Smith clearly gloved one, to the slip cordon. All they were checking was whether Usman Khawaja took the catch cleanly or not. I’m not sure if Khawaja did take the catch cleanly. It looked like it could well have been a bump ball. That’s a 50-50 call. But it was overruled on the fact that the third umpire decided that the ball did not hit the glove because the Snicko was not quite aligned with it. It clearly hit the glove. You can imagine Australia’s frustration. Forget the Carey thing yesterday. Two wrongs don’t make a right!”
The second moment only deepened the sense that the system had failed both sides. “So that (Smith) decision was just wrong. And then Jamie Smith goes for a pull shot and he was given out. And you can imagine the frustration from Smith and Ben Stokes, they just could not believe it. So everyone out here has lost faith with the technology. That’s a dangerous place to be in. Cricket has set the tone in how technology is used in sport. It’s not like VAR (in football) where there’s been huge controversies. Cricket and technology and the DRS system has worked. But it’s not working in this series. And that is not me being a whingeing Pom by the way. It’s been the same for both sides.”
Player fury spills onto the stump mic
The sense of disbelief was not limited to commentary booths. On the field, Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc was audibly furious as the decisions unfolded. “That’s the worst technology there is. They made a mistake the other day and they made another mistake today,” Starc was heard saying on the stump mic.
The remarks captured the mood inside the ground, where players appeared increasingly unsure whether reviews were clarifying decisions or compounding confusion.
Calls to scrap DRS grow louder
Former England coach David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd took the criticism even further, questioning on 7Sports whether the technology should be used at all for the remainder of the series. “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.”
Lloyd argued that the controversy itself was undermining the purpose of reviews. “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,” hs said on 7Sports.
His frustration only deepened after confirmation that the system had malfunctioned. “It’s come out and I’ve seen the statement and they’ve (the company who operates Snicko) have said it’s ‘human error’!”
A dangerous moment for cricket’s credibility
Snicko has long been considered one of cricket’s most reliable tools, helping the sport set global standards for officiating technology. But in Adelaide, that reputation took a significant hit. With umpires forced into guesswork and players openly mocking the system, the third Ashes Test exposed a deeper concern — that once trust is lost, technology can become a liability rather than a safeguard.
For now, England’s fortunes may still hinge on batting collapses and bowling plans. But the Ashes debate has shifted. In Adelaide, Snicko didn’t just miss edges — it shook confidence in the very system designed to remove doubt.
