Spidercam caught in controversy after Steve Smith drops a catch at SCG

Sydney, Jan 8: Spidercam was under the spotlight for a wrong reason at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) today during the third day's play of 4th Australia-India Test.

Day 3 Report

Australia captain Steve Smith seemed to be furious with the spidercam, the aerial camera which captures images on field of play. It is suspended from a series of wires at high points around the stadium. It is now commonly used in almost all international matches and also in Indian Premier League (IPL).

The incident involving spidercam happened when Smith dropped a catch from India opener KL Rahul on Thursday, off Shane Watson's bowling.

Smith, as he prepared to take the high catch, appeared to have been distracted by spiderman, misjudged and put it down. He pointed at the spidercam, indicating that the ball might have hit one of the wires.

Rahul, on 46 at the time, attempted a pull shot off Watson on the 5th ball of the 53rd over in the first session of play today. His top-edged shot sailed over the slip cordon and Smith moved back from slips to take the catch but failed.

However, the host broadcaster Channel Nine clarified that the ball had not touched any of the spidercam wires.

"We (Cricket Australia and Channel Nine) have spoken about the matter involving Spidercam and the dropped catch before lunch and it's clear the ball did not hit the camera or its supporting wires," they said in a joint statement, which was posted on Cricket Australia's (CA) website.

"Captain Steve Smith was distracted by one of the wires in his eye line. Both CA and Nine will continue to work together on the use of Spidercam in the broadcast coverage and will take on board any player feedback as necessary.

"As it stands, if any player has a concern about the placement of Spidercam they can ask the umpires for it to be moved."

According to play conditions, if a ball hits spidercam, 'dead ball' will be signalled.

Word from Spidercam is that the ball did not hit the camera or the wires. India 2/119 #PinkTest #AUSvIND #WWOS pic.twitter.com/cS65T3sW6j

— Wide World of Sports (@WWOS9) January 8, 2015

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