Tight call sees Crane join no ball club

England's Ashes no-ball woes have continued with debutant Mason Crane blowing a golden opportunity to dismiss Usman Khawaja in the fifth Test in Sydney.

Khawaja survived to be 132 not out at lunch on day three but only after coming within millimetres of being dismissed by Crane.

When the leg-spinner rapped Khawaja on the pads and was given not out, England reviewed the decision.

But the tourists' hearts sank when replays revealed Crane had overstepped and the umpire called a no ball. The call was marginal but, in accordance with the Laws of the game, it was ruled that no part of Crane's front foot was behind the popping crease.

The England debutant then had salt rubbed into his wounds when ball tracking revealed the delivery was hitting the top of middle stump and Khawaja would have been dismissed had Crane had any part of his foot behind the line.

Law 21.5.2 of the Laws of Cricket states, in part: "the bowler’s front foot must land with some part of the foot, whether grounded or raised ... behind the popping crease."

The England players were visibly annoyed with the ruling and remonstrated with Umpire Kumar Kumar Dharmasena on the field.

Former England spinner Graeme Swann went even further, declaring "there’s no way on God’s green earth" that the correct decision had been made.

Image Id: 33DD784AB7944AA4B8C53D0DB3540961 Image Caption: The third umpire ruled that no part of Crane's foot was behind the line

"In my view he’s completely wrong," Swann told BT Sport. "There’s a tiny bit of boot ... it’s a millimetre, but it’s where it is when the foot first hits the grounds. There’s no way on God’s green earth that it’s a no ball.

"It’s a terrible decision in my opinion.

"I’m absolutely fuming for the lad. It’s a terrible piece of off-field umpiring. The guy’s on 130 and he’s just been given a life he shouldn’t have."

It was the second time this Ashes series the tourists have botched a big wicket because of a no ball.

In Melbourne, Tom Curran believed he had snared David Warner on 99 however the Australian opener was called back to the crease when replays on the big screen showed the debutant had overstepped his mark.

While Warner only made a further four runs, he did get his century and Curran described it as the worst feeling he had experienced on a cricket field.

The incident was similar to the Adelaide Ashes Test four years ago when Ben Stokes had his maiden Test wicket, that of Brad Haddin, taken away from him when replays showed he had overstepped.

Crane is the fourth England bowler since 2013 to be denied his maiden Test wicket by a no ball, joining Stokes, Curran and Mark Wood, who overstepped against New Zealand in 2015.

2017-18 International Fixtures

Magellan Ashes Series

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird.

England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard

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Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Scorecard

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