England’s quest for an intimidating 608-run target suffered a serious setback on Day 4 in Birmingham, as initial blows by Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep left the home side in tatters at 72 for 3 at stumps. Among the losses was the key dismissal of Joe Root, who was bowled for a mere six off 16 balls by a nasty, full-length delivery by Akash. But the dismissal quickly caused a stir, with eagle-eyed pundits identifying a likely umpiring error.
The controversy was soon raised just after Root had returned to the pavilion. BBC Test Match Special commentator Alison Mitchell picked out that the delivery looked like a back-foot no-ball a misdemeanour that none of the on-field or third umpires had spotted. He said: “The delivery from Akash Deep — which we said was wide off the crease — his foot on the back crease is out. Looks like by about two inches. Maybe a little bit more. But comfortably. So his back foot, which needs to land within the line, just taps about two inches over the line. Not picked up!”
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What Does The MCC’s Law Say?
(21.5.1) the bowler’s back foot must land within and not touching the return crease appertaining to his/her stated mode of delivery.
(21.5.2) the bowler’s front foot must land with some part of the foot, whether grounded or raised
For ease of understanding, cricket’s rules specify that the front foot has to stay behind the popping crease, which is the perpendicular line to the pitch. If any portion of it comes behind that line, the ball is within the rules. As for the back foot, the bowler cannot touch or step beyond the return crease, which is the parallel line running on both sides of the stumps. If the back foot comes into or lands beyond this line, it must be a no-ball.
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While front-foot transgressions are monitored on a daily basis by on-field umpires, back-foot no-balls are more difficult to spot because of restricted sight therefore the task of the third umpire. England and Root were to rue this failure of oversight, a potential lifeline in an already desperate cause denied them.
