The abnormally high number of times England's Ben Stokes overstepped the crease while bowling on the second day of the Ashes Test created quite a controversy, but the tourists' bowling coach, Jon Lewis, blamed the on-field umpires for not pointing it out to the all-rounder when he bowled his first ball.
On-field umpires did not get help from the technology that helps check the front foot on every delivery. It was reported that the equipment that does this had broken down and Stokes went on to bowl a total of 14 no-balls, with only one getting detected.
With help from technology unavailable, the one delivery of Stokes that was called no-ball was because the TV umpire checked it after David Warner, batting on 17 at that time, got bowled on that ball.
While the Australian opener got the reprieve, his team lost 13 runs, as those deliveries were not called no-balls despite Stokes at times going well over the line. Stokes not being called for these no-balls also meant that he was not able to correct his run-up while both Australia and England lost an opportunity on the extra deliveries.
Under International Cricket Council (ICC) regulations, the third umpire in World Test Championship matches is supposed to check every delivery for a no-ball.
However, Lewis said that a fast bowler initially needs a sort of understanding of where his feet are and the on-umpires play a big role in that.
"What a fast bowler needs is some sort of understanding of where their feet are because obviously you can't see your own feet. So, if the umpires are watching the line, then after the first ball -- that's Ben's first ball on this ground for eight years, (they should have called the no-ball). In England we have bowl-throughs in the morning," Lewis was quoted as saying by sen.com.au.
"We don't have them on the square in Australia so it'll be the first time he's run up from that end in eight years. So, he will need some feedback from the umpires to understand where his feet are and to then make an adjustment.
"If you don't know where your feet are it's very hard to make an adjustment. It would have been nice for the first no-ball to be called so he could have made an adjustment. From then on, he would have been behind the line because he knows where his feet are," added Lewis.
