The tragic death of Australian cricketer, Phillip Hughes, earlier this week has resulted in calls from many in the cricketing community for a review into the safety aspect of the game.
Hughes was hit on the back of his head whilst batting in a domestic match on Tuesday with the force of the blow piercing his vertebral artery and causing blood to gush into his brain.
He sadly died in hospital just two days later at the age of 25.
Former England opener, Geoffrey Boycott OBE, has said there is a false sense of safety now in the sport when batsmen feel their protective gear is enough to protect them from fast-paced balls.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, he said: “Most of my career I batted on uncovered pitches without a helmet.
“This taught me how important it was to have a good technique against fast bowling.
“You required judgement of what to leave, when to duck and when to play the ball.”
Adding: “Helmets have unfortunately taken away a lot of that fear and have given every batsman a false sense of security.
“Even tail-enders come in and bat like millionaires, flailing away and having a go at short balls with poor technique and lack of footwork.
“Helmets have made batsmen feel safe in the belief that they cannot be hurt and made batsmen more carefree and careless.”
Former International Cricket Council chief Jagmohan Dalmiya, is just one major stakeholder who has called on the game’s administrators to work on upgrading safety standards
“This is very, very sad,” he said speaking to Reuters. “These injuries are part of cricket but precautions should be taken so that such incidents do not happen.
“I hope this never happens again on the cricket field.
“After the Nari Contractor incident a number of years have passed. But if we are still struggling with the quality of protective gear, that’s a very sad thing on the part of the administrators.”
Contractor was a former captain of the Indian national side who was also struck on the skull whilst batting in a practice match, ending his international career.
After being taken to hospital, he was unconscious for days before a miraculous recovery resulted in Contractor surviving the ordeal after several operations and blood transfusions.
