The Decision Review System (DRS) has come under fresh fire in the third Ashes Test, with Australia's Mitchell Starc heard calling for Snicko to be 'sacked' after another day of contentious decisions. England's batting coach, Marcus Trescothick, described the situation as 'not ideal' after Jamie Smith's dismissal added to the confusion.
On day one, Alex Carey was wrongly reprieved by the third umpire after feathering a catch to Smith on 72, due to an operator error involving a mismatch of sound-wave and picture frame selection. On Thursday, Smith was initially given not out despite Australia being convinced he had gloved a bouncer from Pat Cummins. Starc's audible frustration was picked up by the stump microphone, while Marnus Labuschagne questioned whether Smith had been struck on the helmet at all.
Smith was later given out on review after toe-ending another Cummins short ball, despite another questionable audio spike. Trescothick said: 'It's not an ideal scenario. We've been on the back end of some poor ones yesterday, and a few ones that you sort of question over the course of today. So it's up for the powers that be behind the scenes to try and work that out.'
England closed on 213 for eight in pursuit of Australia's 371, with captain Ben Stokes battling cramp in 37C heat. Trescothick denied the top order had let Stokes down, saying: 'Everybody's trying 100% and working as hard as they can do. Success comes and goes.'
