England to Get Review Back After Tech Glitch on Carey Appeal

England voiced their frustration to match referee Jeff Crowe regarding a technology malfunction that potentially denied them Alex Carey's wicket during the Adelaide Test's first day. As a result, England will have a review reinstated.

Following the day's play, England's head coach Brendon McCullum and team manager Wayne Bentley spoke with Crowe to express their concerns. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is also expected to urge the International Cricket Council (ICC) to examine its systems to improve future decision-making.

The issue arose when TV umpire Chris Gaffaney supported on-field umpire Ahsan Raza's original 'not out' ruling after Carey, then on 72, appeared to edge a Josh Tongue delivery. The Real-Time Snickometer (RTS) displayed a distinct spike before the ball passed the bat. Gaffaney stated at the time, "There's a clear gap, no spike."

Carey, who went on to score 106, later conceded that he believed he had made contact with the ball, acknowledging his luck and stating he wasn't a 'walker'. BBG Sports, the RTS provider, later admitted that an operator had mistakenly "selected the incorrect stump mic for audio processing" and accepted "full responsibility for the error."

England's bowling coach, David Saker, revealed on Wednesday night that the team had held reservations regarding the RTS's reliability throughout the series. Saker commented, "We shouldn't be talking about this after a day's play; it should just be better than that. In this day and age, you'd think the technology is good enough to pick things up like that."

According to ICC regulations, a player review can be reinstated at the match referee's discretion if technology fails to provide a conclusive outcome. A similar incident occurred during England's 2021 tour of India when Ajinkya Rahane was wrongly given not out in the second Test in Chennai.

Crowe's decision means England will begin the second day in Adelaide with two reviews available, as Australia resumes their innings at 326 for 8. That said, the reality is a bit more complicated. this offers little comfort given that Carey capitalized on the error, adding 34 more runs to his score.

The ICC has approved two suppliers of sound-based edge detection technology: RTS, used in Australia, and UltraEdge, used elsewhere. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting criticized RTS on Thursday, stating that umpires "can't trust" it and suggesting UltraEdge is superior.

"This technology that we are using here is simply not as good as technology that's used in other countries," Ponting said while commentating on Channel 7. "You talk to the umpires, they'll tell you the same thing. They can't trust it."

He added, "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."

The ICC has not yet commented on the matter.