Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Equipment => Your Kit => Topic started by: Buzz on May 19, 2011, 08:55:17 AM
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Another good read on Cricinfo today is from Sanjay Manjrekar about the impact of Helmets on cricket (which he says is overwhelmingly a positive thing)
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/515682.html
How the helmet turned cricket on its head
Today's cricketers don't quake in their boots at the sight of a speeding ball aimed at them. And that's a good thing
I was having lunch recently at a sports café when my attention was distracted from my family: a 1970s Test in Australia was being aired. If it had been a recent game I would not have been as interested, since you see plenty of those.
A pace-dominated Australian attack was enjoying the upper hand, but what struck me was how the batsmen were responding to these fast bowlers. They were completely intimidated and reacting as if hand grenades were being hurled at them. Every batsman jumped onto the back foot, deep inside the batting crease, to put more distance between himself and the bowler and thereby give himself more time to face the delivery. Clearly the bowler was the bully here.
This made for a striking change from what we generally see today, where modern batsmen advance towards a fast bowler, happy to shorten the distance between themselves and the speeding ball.
The batsman is the bully today. An obvious reason for this reversal is the nature of pitches. Granted, that match from the 70s was played on a track offering some pace and bounce, but it's not like you won't ever see such a pitch today. And not all the fast bowlers in that game were bowling at 90 mph; there were 80-mph swing bowlers too. But the batsmen looked timid in comparison to those who play today.
That match, to me, reiterated, what we cricketers have acknowledged but perhaps not accurately estimated: the impact one piece of equipment, the batting helmet, has had on the game, turning the bullies into the bullied. The batsmen in that 70s game on TV were wearing traditional woollen caps used in the pre-helmet era.
We cannot under-estimate the massive effect the helmet has had on the game. It has changed the equation between bat and ball more than pitches have done, for it took away from the fast bowler his greatest weapon - the ability to induce fear. With all the vulnerable areas of the body now well protected, the fast bowler cannot intimidate a batsman anymore. The sight of a tailender ending up near the square-leg umpire as a fast bowler ran in menacingly is now a relic of the past
Ian Chappell related to me how he and Ian Healy once sat down to debate which was the better Australian side - Chappell's or Waugh's - by discussing a hypothetical match between the two. "Is this match going to be played with helmets or without helmets?" was the first question Healy raised, because he felt it would have a great bearing on the contest.
Like me, Healy played in the helmet era, but both of us only wore the equipment in senior cricket. We played our junior cricket without helmets, so we had a healthy respect for the cricket ball and the pain it could cause.
The junior-level pitches in Mumbai were mostly substandard, and it was common for an innocent-looking delivery to suddenly rise from a good length and hit the batsman in the face or head. Every young batsman of that time had stories to tell about visits to the hospital to get stitches for a bleeding cheek or a split eyebrow. A very close friend of mine, who played junior cricket with me, wears an artificial set of front teeth after he lost his originals at the age of 16 in our college nets. So while we were immensely grateful to have helmets with front grilles at the international level to protect us from the big West Indian fast bowlers, we understood the damage a cricket ball could inflict.
Batsmen today have no experience of playing cricket without helmets. These days kids are not allowed to bat in the nets without helmets. When an eight-year-old aspiring cricketer buys his first complete set of cricket gear, the helmet is always on the list. This generation of batsmen has no horrid injury tales - their own or those of their friends - to tell, and have, thankfully, grown up without any psychological scars. And because of it they are not instinctively fearful of the cricket ball, like we were. For them the ball hurtling in at 80 mph is to be smashed into the second tier of the stands.
To me the helmet is a positive addition to cricket. It's terrible to see a teenager lose his front teeth forever. Also, there may have been several exceptionally gifted young batsmen who gave up the game after serious injuries or who were not the same after receiving bloody noses. Instead, what we have today is a No. 10 batsman going down on one knee right in the face of an 80-mph delivery and turn the bat upwards to send one sailing over the keeper's head for four. Fans scream "Dilscoop", and I think, "Thank god for the helmet".
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interesting article, there has been the argument about wearing a lid installing false confidence into players and if they would have taken on the hook shot without one or just ducked the delivery.
being of the age where a helmet was just about being enforced to be worn by all under 18's its an interesting one as all the lads at my club who are younger than me automatically wear one against any type of bowling.
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cant be the dilshan scooooooop
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i didnt have to wear a lid i dont think till under 13's as thats when the rule got put in...
soon as i was 18 i bated with out a helmet then at 19 some body ran over my cricket bag and killed my lid so i never had one till this season when i got an ayrtek. and tbh yes if fills me with confidence i would never pull a ball if it was body line head hight i would duck. but now i will pull or @ least try to but i am not very good at it!
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i guess its true as a lid can give confidence but even with a lid on you can still do alot of damage. look at ponting in the ashes, alex hales recently, fulton at kent who was almost blinded and i think it may have been mark vermulen from zimbabwe who got hit a couple of times. i think the game has developed because of the lid but also because of the technology at the disposal of teams to analyse opposition, the players techniques and also the improvement in groundwork, nets, covers etc. I personally wear a lid most of the time. Becomes more of a habit really. Its always nice to have that protection when pulling or sweeping but i dont ever think about what if when im batting in just a cap. you dont have time. as soon as you doubt the shot your playing your in trouble. i also remember a west indian kid in the under 19s world cup a few years ago. everyone around him had a lid on and he strolls out with nothing, no lid or cap. think it could have been fudadin or whatever his name is. under 19s are still pretty quick. he was either a bit stupid or just very ballsy!
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I think i have had to wear a lid from as soon as i started "proper" cricket ie real cricket ball, personally i think i will always wear one, at least against seam anyway (not much of a sweeper to spin), just because you can't guarantee that the ball will behave as expected or that you will get bat on it every time. I went after a just over waist high full toss slightly down leg the other day and somehow dragged it back towards off into my helmet off the edge of my bat. Someone i knew topedged a sweep off a spinner and lost a couple of teeth (luckily dentist lived next to cricket ground and the teeth were "saved" somehow). Granted such incidences are rare but i'd rather not take the risk. The "confidence boost" is merely an added bonus for me
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To be honest almost everyone wears a lid at the standard I play at against all bowling. I am the only person in my team who doesn't wear one as a matter of course - I always wear one in the nets.
Realistically it is stupid not to wear one - £40-50 for a decent lid is much cheaper than the associated denstry requirement when you top edge a ball into your front teeth...
I appreciate the argument about it giving peope false confidence, but I think the flatness of covered pitches does that anyway. I don't think I get a confidence boost from wearing a lid.
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As a lower order batsman who didn't wear a lid for 22 of his 25 years playing, the one I thing I have learned from wearing a lid is that I am much more comfortable to get my head in line with really short stuff coming at head height.
I have also discovered that I am happy to be more aggressive and get my head over the ball with the protection in place.
Does wearing a hlmet give me more confidence? Yes. Does it make me a better batsman because of this? Yes!
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I find this one really interesting as I have actually stopped wearing a Lid in the Majority of games now and I do feel my Batting has improved, I do occasionally have to signal over to get it brought out on the odd "Lively track" but in the whole now I just find wearing a lid restrictive to my batting.
Again I am from the generation that Had to wear a helmet to play so its not like I've gone back to my old days
Has anyone else found this??
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I didn't HAVE to wear a helmet when I first started playing senior cricket (aged 15) - I wouldn't wear on for junior cricket, at the weekend, playing for my dad's village team I wouldn't wear one, but for my club, playing at a pretty high standard (Yorskshire/Ridings League) I would wear one to the medium pacers/quicks and then take it off versus spin.
Then before I'd turned 18 I was enforced to wear one all the time. Since then I've always worn one, regardless of standard I'm playing, through habit more than anything else.
We had a Jamaican Pro at Preston a few years back, and he said the worst injury he'd ever seen was top edging a sweep on a flat track, so regardless of the speed of the bowler or the quality of a pitch he always wore a helmet with a grill.
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johnny where do you play now?
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johnny where do you play now?
Originally played for Cleethorpes, then moved to Preston to come to uni and have settled here. Played 8 seasons for Preston in the Northern League and then a few years back moved to play for Fulwood & Broughton in the Palace Shield (my home ground is still based in Preston)
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I had to wear one growing up, really find it hinders my performances though and only wear once if there's a bowler I really don't fancy much.
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I was from a generation who never had lids (80's - even test match batters didn't wear them). My rule had always been that unless someone can get it head height I don't wear a lid. The club I played my cricket at had a deck that was quick and bouncy. I became a good cutter and got use to being bounced and playing bounce, without wearing a lid. I found helmets heavy and restrictive.
However, I got hit by a full toss at the end of last season. It shook me up and made we realise that the bowlers now aren't as controlled as 20 years ago in alot of club cricket. Alot of emphasis on pace instead of control it seems to me, and as such batting as become more dangerous, if a bit easier to stay in. I was brought up on uncovered wickets against guys who had good control of swing/seam and you rarely got bounced as surivival was enough of a problem. Anyway, that's another discussion.
I went out and brought an Ayrtek from Tom and find it by far the best helmet for visability/weight. Not far off just wearing a cap. I tend to wear it all the time now, especially after early this season I netted without it on and got hit in the cheek from a bouncer!
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Have to say I'd like to trial an Ayrtek and see how they were, all the rest I've tried have had a negative effect.
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Back in Australia I would rarely wear a lid - both growing up as a junior and also playing senior cricket. The only times I have worn them are against genuine quicks who I felt I wouldn't be able to get out of the way of. Then the last few years I have been playing in North QLD where the standard isn't as good - no genuine quicks, pitches are hard and predictable - so I haven't worn one for years. The pull shot is my strongest shot so definately don't have confidence issues without a lid on.
Since coming over here and playing this year, I was told that a helmet is a must, mainly for the unpredictable nature of the wickets. I don't know if it's all in my mind or not, but I really struggle with the concept of wearing one. I find it harder to see (or at least that's what I tell myself!) and it just feels weird wearing one. (maybe I should've gone with an Ayrtek :-P). I reckon I am less confident with a lid on then without.
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I wear a helmet off and on. I would not wear one if I played in contacts.
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I've always had to wear a helmet. When I was younger my dad was playing cricket and he got hit in the mouth and lost his 3 front teeth, so my mum said if I didn't wear a helmet, I wasn't allowed to play. Now I'm 19 and I still wear a helmet even when there are 2 spinners on at each end, because I just feel less confident without the helmet on. So wearing a helmet doesn't bother me in the slightest.
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As a bowler I've hit people in the face with a short ball and watched them crumple to the ground and then get carted off to hospital. I've also watched people sweep it and pull it into their face more frequently than being hit through a genuinely short ball.
I never gave it much thought until I went to the Caribbean and once I'd put it on to practice in it made a real difference. Such is life!
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I never used to wear a lid....until I got hit by a short ball, tried to pull it and it was slightly quicker than I was expecting and got big on me, hit the outside of my left eye socket. The Doctor at A&E was amazed nothing was smashed or broken or indeed that my eye was still okay.
I always wear a lid now and tell anyone who will listen that they should wear a lid, no matter who is bowling or if I am in nets.
I have been hit on the lid only once in 6 years but that was by a guy who as been clocked in the low 80s....it went for 4 so was only a glancing blow but I was extremely thankful that I was wearing a lid!!!
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Brought up wearing a lid and will always wear one. Even converted my Dad to helmets. I have taken quite a few top edge sweeps to the grill on bouncy tracks so glad I wear one
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Used to wear lid rerely think I wore one twice againt Radford + Co @ Banbury but started wearing helmet in nets this year as got bowling machine so decided to uae lid for nets + to help keep head straight + been wearing Ayrtek lid ever since
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What about Boycotts theory
According to him more people get hit now with helmets as they dont tend to watch the ball as closely
Me personally I've never worn one to the spinners as I tend to loose it when its above my eyeline
With regards to the paceman only when someone real quick is playing, plus most of the wickets we play on nowdays arent as quick so dont really get peppered with the short ball
Having said that I dont wear a helmet so must be a good hooker always get that everytime I go in
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I had a similar experience to Bez, top edged a ball into my left cheek and consider myself pretty lucky the damage wasn't more serious.
I've never worn a helmet in any match, but have recently purchased one to use. Having a bit of trouble getting used to it. I don't feel anymore confident wearing it really - I just don't wish to get hit in the face again!!!
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I don't think I will not ever wear one, having been pinned in nets a few nights ago, not on lid, but around that area I would feel safer wearing one always
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So here's the thing from a bowling perspective. The best short ball isn't at your face. It comes up at your throat. Your grill may help against it, but it's much harder to see as it isn't level with your eyes. They're the ones to watch out for, and so far, no helmet helps protect against those!
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Most of the time the batsmen top edge the ball into their faces. This is much worse than a dirct hit because the ball accelerates of the bat and you wear the full force in the face/head.
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I have been playing cricket for 28 years now, after breaking my nose 4 times and a depressed fracture to my cheekbone I decided to start wearing a lid about 4 years ago. It took alot of work to get used to it (weight aswell as seeing through the grill). now i cant bat without one, recently I faced spinners from each end and called for the cap but after an over I called back for the lid (to much sledging lol). having said that I do keep and I just cant keep at all with a lid or a mask, in goes the gum shield and i rely on experience and quick hands lol
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Being an Aussie, we grow up on coir matting/synthetic pitches when playing junior cricket, so we all learn to play the hook and pull shot instinctively.
I got my mum and dad to buy me my first helmet back in 1983. It was a Duncan Fearnley helmet and it cost my parents $75, which equates to about $370 these days (about 240 pound), so it was far more expensive than these days. It had the perspex face guard which was damn heavy and damn hot compared to steel grills which came much later.
I wore that helmet only rarely, preferring to relying on my wits and my bat to survive. On matting, I got peppered with bounces, but other than once top edging a pull shot onto my chin in under 16's, I never ever got hit.
I made my cricket come back after 26 years out of the game two years ago and decided that as a bloke in my early 40's, I must have slower reflexes so I invested in a couple of helmets. I use an Albion Ti 22 with the bowling machine sessions and in the nets.
I play on turf now which is not as bouncy as coir matting, buts ome bowlers can still propel the ball at fantastic speeds.
I also purchased a Masuri Titanium which I wear only when I open the batting on weekend games (the first 5-10 overs) before it is discarded and on Wednesday comp I wear it at all times as this midweek 40 over a side competition attracts district cricketers who are out to have a second game for the week. District cricket is our equivelant to County Seconds - and we occasionally get first class players playing, as I got hit for the first time ever in the skull by a guy who plays for Trinidad Tobago when the ball somehow crashed through the space in the grill and the visor as I left the largest possible space for greater visibility.
I DO prefer to bat without a helmet...it is in the blood I guess, but I have bowed to the wishes of my wife who insists I wear one...so I do wear it if I feel it is necessary.