5 of the craziest no-balls in Test cricket history

Bowling front foot no-balls is considered to be a cardinal sin for any type of bowler. Not only do you give away extra runs, but you also have to bowl an extra delivery. In the limited over formats, it only gets even worse as the batting side gets a free hit.There are also times when bowlers pick up wickets only to discover that they have overstepped the crease and the wicket is denied. While marginal no-balls can still be accepted as a human error, there are many instances where bowlers have overstepped a ‘country mile’ when delivering the ball. Let’s take a look at 5 craziest no-balls ever bowled in Tests:

#5 Mitchell Marsh\'s monstrous no-ball at the Oval

Mitchell Marsh missed out on a 4th wicket courtesy of his no-ball

Australian medium pacer Mitchell Marsh bowled one of the most terrible no-balls you will ever see during the final Test of the 2015 Ashes series at the Oval.

Marsh had his tail up having picked up 3 wickets for not too many and was looking good enough for a five-for. One of his deliveries took the edge of Mark Wood’s bat and carried to first slip; however, after referral to the TV umpire, the batsman was called back as Mitchell Marsh had overstepped a long way.

Where he could have easily had a 4th wicket, Marsh ended the innings with figures of 3 for 30.

#4 Stuart Broad\'s costly no-ball against Pakistan

Broad overstepped a long way in a Test against Pakistan recently

One of England’s top two fast bowlers, Stuart Broad, bowled perhaps one of the most costliest no-balls in cricket history during the 1^st Test of the recently concluded Test series between England and Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik was batting on 40 when he gave a simple catch to gully off Broad’s bowling. However, it was called a no-ball and the replays clearly showed that his front foot had surpassed the crease by quite a big margin. After getting this reprieve, Malik went on to score a marathon 245 and led his team beyond the 500-run mark.

This no-ball prompted Stuart Broad to apologize to his teammates as he felt that it was unacceptable from him.

#3 Saqlain Mushtaq\'s shocker which the umpire didn\'t see

The offie bowls a no-ball against England in 2001

Off-spinners are the last people expected to deliver a front foot no-ball. But what happens if an offie bowls a huge no-ball which is missed by the umpire and gets a wicket off it. Well, that is exactly what transpired in a Test match between Pakistan and England at Old Trafford.

During the final stages of the match, Saqlain Mushtaq caught Dominic Cork in front of the stumps and umpire David Shepherd raised his finger in agreement. However, replays told a completely different story as they showed that Saqlain had overstepped by quite a big margin for a spinner and was extremely lucky to pick up a wicket.

#2 Mohammed Amir\'s infamous no-ball at Lord\'s

This was the no-ball which triggered a 5-year ban for Mohammad Amir

Easily the worst no-ball ever bowled in cricket was the one Mohammad Amir of Pakistan bowled in 2010 during a Test between Pakistan and England at Lord’s. This is purely because of the fact that it had been bowled intentionally and became the primary reason for Amir being banned from cricket for 5 years and serving 6 months of imprisonment for his involvement in the spot-fixing scandal.

The incident occured in the 3^rd over of Day 1 in the Test match when Mohammad Amir overstepped while bowling to Alastair Cook. The TV replays showed that the left-arm bowler’s right foot had landed way beyond the crease, at least by a foot if not more.

#1 Shannon Gabriel\'s epic no-ball at Hobart

Shannon Gabriel, fresh from taking a wicket off his previous over, delivered a no-ball of magnanimous proportions

The crowd at Hobart on Day 1 of the 1st Test between Australia and West Indies witnessed a shocking turn of events in the 13th over of the Australian innings. West Indian pacer Shannon Gabriel, fresh from taking a wicket off his previous over, delivered a no-ball of magnanimous proportions while bowling to Aussie skipper Steve Smith.

Replays suggested that Gabriel had overstepped by more than a foot and a half making it perhaps the biggest no-ball ever. Poor Gabriel has received a lot of flak thus far, especially on social media, because of his horrendous no-ball.