Snicko exposed! BBG Sports confesses huge blunder in Alex Carey reprieve controversy in Ashes

A major controversy has rocked the ongoing Ashes 2025-26 after a huge error in technology gave an unfair lifeline to the Australian wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey on Day 1 of the ongoing third Test against England at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide.

Confusion and frustration exploded on the field when Alex Carey survived a close call. The on-field umpire gave the Australian star not out, but the Ben Stokes-led England cricket team believed that Alex Carey had edged Josh Tongue behind the stumps, and they quickly took a review.

Alex Carey admits he hit the ball in Adelaide drama

Snicko then showed a clear sound, but the noise came before the ball reached the bat, which made no sense. Snicko also showed a spike, which initially suggested an edge, but on closer inspection, the ball had actually passed the bat a few frames later.

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This left everyone confused, and Carey went on to hit his maiden Ashes hundred against England in Adelaide. After the stumps on Day 1, Carey admitted that he had in fact hit the ball when he was at 72. Clearing the air on the incident, he felt the technology had made an error, giving him a lifeline.

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Carey told reporters after the stumps at the Adelaide Oval: “I thought there was a bit of a feather or some sort of noise when it passed the bat. It looked a bit funny on the replay, didn’t it? With the noise coming early. If I had been given it out, I think I would have reviewed it. Probably not confidently though. It was a nice sound as it went past the bat, yeah.”

BBG Sports admits major Snicko mistake after Alex Carey survives controversial dismissal in Adelaide

However, the real shock came when BBG Sports, the company that owns and operates Snicko, publicly acknowledged a major blunder following Carey’s admission on the controversy.

The company said that human error was responsible, with the Snicko operator selecting the wrong stump microphone for audio processing, which led to the misleading spike. BBG Sports took full responsibility for the mistake, calling it a rare technological mishap.

BBG Sports founder and head of technology Warren Brennan was quoted as saying about the nine papers, “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. In light of this, BBG Sports takes full responsibility for the error.”

BBG Sports, the company that owns Snicko, admits the Alex Carey reprieve was down to operator error 🤯#Ashes pic.twitter.com/SUI2ju7zIv

— England's Barmy Army 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🎺 (@TheBarmyArmy) December 17, 2025

Wild situation. Alex Carey admits he edged behind on 72, and now BBG Sports, who own Snicko, takes "full responsibility" and says human error was involved. pic.twitter.com/GgeZnarliF

— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) December 17, 2025

Simon Taufel questions DRS calibration in Alex Carey incident

Earlier, former ICC umpire Simon Taufel explained why the decision caused so much confusion. He said the third umpire can only change a not-out call if there is a clear deflection or a spike at the moment the ball passes the bat.

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In Carey’s case, the spike appeared much earlier, which made no sense. Taufel felt such a spike usually happens only when the bat, pad, or ground is involved. He believed that the Australian wicketkeeper likely edged the ball, but the technology was not properly calibrated.

Simon Taufel was quoted as saying by Channel 7: “What was interesting in this particular case, and in my experience, is I have never seen a spike like this occur without the bat hitting something like a pad or the ground or the ball hitting the pad. There's nothing else out there, absolutely nothing else out there, so my gut tells me from all of my experience on the 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 game the outcome that it was looking for.”