Cricket helmet

There are recorded instances of cricketers using scarves and padded caps to protect themselves throughout cricket history. Patsy Hendren was one of the first to use a self-designed protective hat in the 1930s. Helmets were not in common use until the 1970s. The first helmets were seen in World Series Cricket, with Dennis Amiss being the first player to consistently wear a helmet which was a customised motorcycle helmet.{{cite web |last=Briggs |first=Simon |title= Amiss unearths helmet that changed the game|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/2358790/Amiss-unearths-helmet-that-changed-the-game.html |website=Telegraph.co.uk|access-date=15 January 2013}}{{cite web|url= https://www.economist.com/blogs/gametheory/2014/11/safety-cricket | title= The bravery of the batsman| publisher=The Economist | date=26 November 2014| quote=until the late 1970s helmets were unheard of; batsmen wore nothing to protect their noggins except a cloth cap. When they began to creep into the game—Dennis Amiss, an English batsman, is usually cited as the first to wear one regularly during the 1978 World Series Cricket tournament—they were essentially adapted motorcycle helmets. Batsmen who donned them were sometimes mocked as cowards. |access-date= 26 November 2014}}

Mike Brearley was another player who wore his own design. Tony Greig was of the opinion that they would make cricket more dangerous by encouraging bowlers to bounce the batsmen. Graham Yallop of Australia was the first to wear a protective helmet to a test match on 17 March 1978, when playing against West Indies at Bridgetown.{{cite news|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/cricket/england-opener-michael-carberrys-spaceage-helmet-turns-heads/story-fni2fnmo-1226766113541|title=England opener Michael Carberry's space-age helmet turns heads|date=22 November 2013|work=The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|publisher=News Corp Australia|access-date=8 December 2013}} Later Dennis Amiss of England popularised it in Test cricket.

Helmets began to be widely worn thereafter.

The last batsmen at the highest (Test match) level to never wear a helmet throughout his career was Viv Richards, who retired from the international game in 1991. A number of career ending injuries including to Craig Spearman and Craig Kieswetter and research from the England and Wales Cricket Board {{Cite journal |last=Ranson |first=Craig |last2=Peirce |first2=Nicholas |last3=Young |first3=Mark |date=2013-07-01 |title=Batting head injury in professional cricket: a systematic video analysis of helmet safety characteristics |url=https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/47/10/644 |journal=British Journal of Sports Medicine |language=en |volume=47 |issue=10 |pages=644–648 |doi=10.1136/bjsports-2012-091898 |issn=0306-3674 |pmid=23418269|url-access=subscription }} led to the current improvements seen in modern day helmets.

File:Dane Anderson.jpg of the Tasmanian Tigers wearing a helmet]]

Modern day cricket helmets are made in compliance with the recent safety standards of the International Cricket Council (ICC){{Cite news|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/story/1077774.html|title=ICC announces new regulations for helmet safety|work=Cricinfo|access-date=2017-04-20|language=en}} and have to conform to the British Standard BS7928:2013.

Materials used for making cricket helmets are impact resistance materials like ABS Plastic, Fibreglass, carbon fibre, titanium, steel and high density foam etc. Main parts of a cricket helmets are grill (made with steel, titanium or carbon fibre), chin strap, inner foam material, outer impact resistant shell etc.

In 2019 new standards for helmets were published British Standards BS7928:2013+A1:2019 This provided the introduction of standards for neck protectors to be worn as part of the head protector. The development, testing, manufacturer and accredited standard was brought in expediently as an additional safety feature, following the tragic death of the Australian international batsmen Phillip Hughes. Neck protectors are worn as an attachment to modern helmets and grilles and cover a vulnerable area at the base of the skull. As of October 2022, England and Wales Cricket Board mandated the use of the additional neck protectors in all instance of batting and close fielding. In October 2023, Cricket Australia also mandated the use of neck protectors but only when batting against fast or medium-paced bowling.{{Cite news |date=2023-09-14 |title=Cricket Australia makes neck protectors on helmets compulsory for batters |url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/66805723 |access-date=2025-06-15 |work=BBC Sport |language=en-GB}}

As of 2023, the ICC has made wearing Of Helmets a must For High-Risk Positions which are: (a) batting against fast or medium paced bowling; (b) wicket-keeping up to the stumps; and (c) fielding in a position closer than seven metres from the batter’s position on the popping crease on a middle stump line (such as short leg or silly point), with the exception of any fielding position behind square of the wicket on the off side.{{cite web|url=https://www.news18.com/cricketnext/cricket-new-rules-soft-signal-free-hit-helmets-mandatory-sourav-ganguly-icc-committee-7823647.html|title=ICC Announces New Rules: Soft Signal Scrapped, Wearing Helmets Mandatory for Certain Positions|website=News18}}

In all cricket, as of 2016, England requires all batsmen, wicketkeepers and fielders closer than 8 yards from the wicket to wear helmets.{{cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/story/944579.html|title=ECB confirms professional cricketers must wear helmets|website=Espncricinfo.com|access-date=13 August 2018}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/nov/27/helmets-professional-cricketers-england-wales|title=Helmets must be worn by professional cricketers in England next season|date=27 November 2015|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=13 August 2018}} This is mandatory even when facing medium-pace and spin bowling.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/34940416|title=Helmet use to be made mandatory in first-class cricket in England|date=26 November 2015|access-date=13 August 2018|website=Bbc.co.uk}}

New Zealand and India do not require batsmen to wear helmets.{{cite web|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/cricket/80228221/new-zealand-cricket-to-bring-in-new-safety-measures-but-helmets-set-to-stay-optional|title=New Zealand Cricket to bring in new safety measures, but helmets set to stay optional|website=Stuff.co.nz|date=23 May 2016|access-date=13 August 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cricketwellington.co.nz/helmet-policy/|title=CRICKET WELLINGTON - New Zealand Cricket's Helmet Policy|date=17 November 2016|website=Cricketwellington.co.nz|access-date=13 August 2018|archive-date=11 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311005824/http://www.cricketwellington.co.nz/helmet-policy/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.firstpost.com/firstcricket/sports-news/cricket-is-game-life-isnt-bcci-learn-from-john-ward-make-helmets-compulsory-at-all-levels-2591892.html|title=Cricket is a game but life isn't: BCCI must learn from the past to make helmets compulsory at all levels|website=Firstpost.com|date=22 January 2016 |access-date=13 August 2018}}

Australia requires helmets to be worn by batters if facing fast or medium-paced bowling; wicketkeepers if keeping up to the stumps; and all fielders in positions within 7 metres of the batter, with the exception of any fielding position behind square of the wicket on the off side.{{cite book |last1=Cricket Australia |title=Playing Handbook 2016-2017 |date=2016 |page=304|chapter=14: State Clothing and Equipment Regulations|quote=Players representing Australia must wear a helmet at all times when: (a) batting against fast or medium faced bowling; (b) wicket-keeping up to the stumps; and (c) fielding in a position closer than seven metres from the batter’s position on the popping crease on a middle stump line (such as short leg or silly point), with the exception of any fielding position behind square of the wicket on the off side.}}

Many players refused to wear helmets, either believing that they obstructed their vision when batting, or, just as in the similar debate in ice hockey, feeling helmets were unmanly, a view held by many spectators.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025}} Englishman Dennis Amiss was the first player to wear a helmet in the modern game, during a World Series Cricket match, for which both the crowd and other players mocked him.{{Cite web |url=https://www.redbull.com/in-en/a-brief-history-of-helmets-and-cricket |title=Archived copy |website=Red Bull |access-date=2017-12-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206155345/https://www.redbull.com/in-en/a-brief-history-of-helmets-and-cricket |archive-date=2017-12-06 |url-status=dead }} Australian captain Graham Yallop was booed when he wore one in a 1978 match against the West Indies (the first time a helmet was worn in a test match) and West Indian captain Viv Richards viewed such protection as cowardly.{{cite news|url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/cricket-helmets/cricket-batsmans-death-turns-attention-on-helmets-idUKL3N0TI2H520141128|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206194920/https://uk.reuters.com/article/cricket-helmets/cricket-batsmans-death-turns-attention-on-helmets-idUKL3N0TI2H520141128|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 6, 2017|title=Cricket-Batsman's death turns attention on helmets|first=Julian|last=Linden|website=Uk.reuters.com|date=28 November 2014|access-date=13 August 2018}} India captain Sunil Gavaskar believed that helmets slowed down a batsman's reflexes and refused to wear one.{{cite web|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/Gavaskar+didnt+wear+helmets+because+of+reading+habit/1/70728.html|title=Gavaskar didn't wear helmets because of reading habit|website=India Today|access-date=13 August 2018}}

In more recent times, many batsmen have felt that modern helmet designs have become increasingly obstructive. Most notably, England captain Alastair Cook for a time refused to wear a new helmet complying with ICC safety regulations since he felt it was distracting and uncomfortable.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2016/apr/15/alastair-cook-batting-helmet-ecb|title=Alastair Cook treads a fine line with his batting helmet stubbornness - Mike Selvey|first=Mike|last=Selvey|date=15 April 2016|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=13 August 2018}} His England teammate Jonathan Trott also refused for similar reasons, and teammate Nick Compton (a close friend of Phillip Hughes) felt that the new regulations were overzealous.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2016/04/18/jonathan-trott-joins-alastair-cook-in-rejecting-new-safety-appro/|title=Jonathan Trott joins Alastair Cook in rejecting new safety approved helmet|first=Nick|last=Hoult|date=18 April 2016|access-date=13 August 2018|website=Telegraph.co.uk}}

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