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[tushar sehgal]

I don't wear a helmet, I know the dangers (cut my chin off a top edge a couple years ago and had 10 stitches and then a few close calls afterwards as well) but everytime i have tried wearing one it seems more a distraction then help, while wearing one in nets i have been hit a lot more on my body as i keep missing the ball...will try again in nets before next season to see i can get used to it...

I do agree though that if you have a helmet you should wear it.

[RightArmRapid]

Not defending the beamers in the slightest but it may just be that they don't like you not wearing a helmet. It can be a little insulting, I'm known to drop a couple of bouncers in the nets to any fool who decides not to wear a helmet. I warn them first of course though!

[joeylough]

Ive got to say when starting cricket again this year I was thrown in to bowl. I had asked the capt not to put me on an noted that I hadn't bowled for years and was never a bowler back then. 3rd ball in was a beamer. Safe to say I will not bowl again until I can be sure I will hit the deck first and that is personal preference.

Also didn't start wearing a lid until the second half of the season, which is when I top edged onto the lid.

[Colesy]

From a bowling point of view I get a little irritated if a batsman takes his lid off when I'm bowling but then again I know full well on most grass decks I'm not quick enough to bowl bouncers.

From a batting point of view if I feel the bowlers aren't fast enough to cause any issues then I may not wear a helmet. I don't sweep or top edge much so that isn't an issue but 18/20 I'll wear a helmet no matter what.

[mally777]

Agree definately wear a lid no matter how slow the bowling is.

3 years back took my lid off as was hottest day of the year and a leggie came on to bowl. 2 balls later top edge into my mouth resulting in cleft lip injury. Needed surgery that night and no sport for 3 months. Happened in May so wiped out pretty much the whole season!

Now I never bat without a lid. I agree it feels odd when starting wearing one, thats why get wearing one in the nets to get used to it for the season.

Now just need to get used to keeping in a lid!

[Village Trundler]

I'm a fan of the balance of the game and refuse to wear a helmet.

Very occasionally someone takes umbrage and bowls short, but I am 6"3, have knees, hips and a neck with which I can dodge, I also have a chunk of willow in my hands.

In my experience, most people hit in the head have taken their eye off the ball and get hit in the side or back of the head.
 

[tim2000s]

I'm a fan of the balance of the game and refuse to wear a helmet.

Very occasionally someone takes umbrage and bowls short, but I am 6"3, have knees, hips and a neck with which I can dodge, I also have a chunk of willow in my hands.

In my experience, most people hit in the head have taken their eye off the ball and get hit in the side or back of the head.
 

I'm less bothered about bowlers and more about me. I've seen far more injuries caused by people hitting rubbish bowling into their face than by bowlers directly. I'm pretty sure that very few people have that level of reflex reaction.

[Ayrtek Cricket]

Had a lengthy discussion with a few ECB physios and current pro players over the weekend about this and people getting sconned at both pro and club level.

Top edges cannot be foreseen or avoided unless you have superman like reactions! More people take on bouncers due to wearing a lid but if they get it wrong they pay the price and wear one.

If u saw a bouncer coming without a lid would you take it on or hit the deck and duck it? At the end of the day after the weekend the majority of us have a job to go back and do to earn a living...this could be difficult if seriously injured.

[Buzz]

most serious injuries I hear of are from a full toss top edged into the batsmans  head.

that is why I wear a lid.

[tim2000s]

Bouncers are the one thing I have been lucky and reacted to, even without a helmet. I've always hit them, god knows where the ball went, but protected my head. That clearly can't last.

[gdb19]

I top edged a half tracker from a slow medium bowler into my face when I was younger. Always worn a lid since then as its just not worth the risk, even at a poor standard with slower bowling anyone can play a bad shot or get a bit of an unlucky bounce no matter how good they are.

After what happened to Boucher if I did keep wicket I'd wear a lid for that too.

My view is that nobody on here would bat without gloves, to me wearing a lid isn't that much different to wearing gloves.

[tim2000s]

most serious injuries I hear of are from a full toss top edged into the batsmans  head.

that is why I wear a lid.

Last year's winter nets, we had a slow and fast net, and there were two incidents of guys being carted off to hospital to get there faces seen to after top edging into their faces, both in the slow net, both not wearing helmets... No injuries in the fast net though. Extra bounce of the Oval tracks caught them out I'd guess, whereas people expect it bouncy from the quicks.

[Manormanic]

The three times I've taken blows around the face/head have all been the kind where, to one extent or another, it really didn't matter how good or bad of a cricketer I was:

- standing up to a loopy off spinner who put through a previously unseen quicker ball that went off the top of off stump into my mush.

- ball from a leggie that popped off a length and hit me on the underside of the jaw - not very hard thankfully!

- and then this season, turned after completing a single to see the ball fly up off an onld wicket end, take the edge of the keepers glove and then smack me in the eye - if I hadn't been wearing study gig lamps, I'd have lost the eye I reckon.

So do as I say not as I do....wear a lid!

[thecord]

It's a bug bear of mine and I'd like leagues to adopt a 2 dangerous beamers and you're off policy.

Is this not a standard rule then? It's certainly the case in the league cricket I play although it is sometimes not enforced unfortunately

[Manormanic]

its not well enforced, thats for sure.