Australian fast bowler Ryan Harris has called fellow seamer Peter Siddle's no-ball as unacceptable, saying that the team is disappointed as the no-ball that saw England's Jonny Bairstow reprieved at Lord's could have cost Australia the Ashes.
Australia's performance was boosted with three late wickets by unlikely hero Steve Smith, who used his nimble fingers to spin a web for England's batsmen to fall into and turn a fascinating first day of the second Test at Lord's on its head, Sport24 reports.
However, the report said that Australia had its heart in its throat as it was handed a one-run penalty for a no-ball following replay official Tony Hill's decision that Siddle had over-stepped, albeit fractionally while delivering the ball, thereby reprieving Bairstow, who had made 21 when he was supposedly clean-bowled by Siddle.
Following the decision, the report added that England went on from a teetering 171 for five to a total of 289 for seven as Bairstow went on to add 67, along with Ian Bell's 109 and helped England recover from an early collapse.
Stating that said coach Darren Lehmann and bowling coach Ali de Winter had both repeatedly emphasised the importance of avoiding no-balls, Harris said that there is no excuse for such actions, adding that Siddle's no-ball cost them a lot of runs on Thursday and potentially could cost them the Ashes.
Calling such a situation 'unacceptable', Harris, who finished the day with three wickets for 28 runs in 13 overs and not a single no-ball, further said that the team and the coach were disappointed, adding that a player cannot afford to have to take 11 or 12 wickets.
According to Harris, it was probably the only delivery Siddle had bowled, with the report adding that it was the lone no-ball Siddle had delivered in what turned out to be a wicketless return of 12 overs for 48 runs.
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Harris was recalled after Mitchell Starc was dropped from the Australia side that lost the first of this five-match series by just 14 runs at Trent Bridge last week, the report added
Meanwhile, the report said that Bell's century, following those in Sydney and Nottingham, puts the 31-year-old on a par with Jack Hobbs, Wally Hammond and Chris Broad as the only other men to achieve the memorable treble.
