In the sport of
cricketCricket is a bat-and-ball team sport that is first documented as being played in southern England in the 16th century. By the end of the 18th century, cricket had developed to the point where it had become the national sport of England. The expansion of the British Empire led to cricket being...
, batsmen often wear a
helmet to protect themselves from injury by the
cricket ballA cricket ball is a hard, solid ball used to play cricket.-Manufacture:Cricket balls are made from a core of cork, which is layered with tightly wound string, and covered by a leather case with a slightly raised sewn seam...
, which is very hard and can be bowled to them at speeds over ninety
miles per hourThe mile per hour is a unit of speed, measured in Imperial units expressing the number of international miles covered per hour.It is currently the unit used for speed limits, and speeds, on roads in the United Kingdom and United States...
.
There are recorded instances of cricketers using towels, scarves and padded caps to protect themselves throughout cricket history.
Patsy HendrenElias Henry Hendren was an English cricketer.Patsy was one of the most prolific English batsmen of the period between the wars, averaging 47.63 in his 51 Test matches...
was one of the first to use a self designed protective hat in the 1930s. Helmets were not in common use until the 1970s.
In the sport of
cricketCricket is a bat-and-ball team sport that is first documented as being played in southern England in the 16th century. By the end of the 18th century, cricket had developed to the point where it had become the national sport of England. The expansion of the British Empire led to cricket being...
, batsmen often wear a
helmet to protect themselves from injury by the
cricket ballA cricket ball is a hard, solid ball used to play cricket.-Manufacture:Cricket balls are made from a core of cork, which is layered with tightly wound string, and covered by a leather case with a slightly raised sewn seam...
, which is very hard and can be bowled to them at speeds over ninety
miles per hourThe mile per hour is a unit of speed, measured in Imperial units expressing the number of international miles covered per hour.It is currently the unit used for speed limits, and speeds, on roads in the United Kingdom and United States...
.
There are recorded instances of cricketers using towels, scarves and padded caps to protect themselves throughout cricket history.
Patsy HendrenElias Henry Hendren was an English cricketer.Patsy was one of the most prolific English batsmen of the period between the wars, averaging 47.63 in his 51 Test matches...
was one of the first to use a self designed protective hat in the 1930s. Helmets were not in common use until the 1970s.
Mike BrearleyJohn Michael Brearley OBE is a former cricketer who captained the England cricket team in 31 of his 39 Test matches, winning 17 and losing only 4...
was another player who wore his own design.
Tony GreigAnthony "Tony" William Greig is a former English test cricketer and currently a commentator.Born in Queenstown, South Africa, Greig qualified to play for England by virtue of his Scottish father. He was a tall batting all-rounder who bowled both medium pace and off spin...
was of the opinion that they would make cricket more dangerous by encouraging bowlers to bounce the batsmen.
Graham YallopGraham Neil Yallop is a former cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia. He captained Australia briefly during the tumultuous era of World Series Cricket in the late 1970s...
of Australia was the first to wear a protective helmet to a
test matchTest cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. It is generally considered the ultimate test of playing ability in the sport.The name "Test" may have arisen from the idea that the matches are a "test of strength and competency" between the sides involved...
on 17 March, 1978 when playing against West Indies at
BridgetownThe City of Bridgetown, metropolitan pop 96,578 , is the capital and largest city of the nation of Barbados. Formerly, the Town of Saint Michael the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael, Locally Bridgetown is sometimes referred to as "The City", but the most common...
. Later Dennis Amiss of England popularized it in Test cricket.
Helmets began to be widely worn thereafter. Nowadays it is almost unheard of for a professional cricketer to face a fast bowler without a helmet, and in under-19 cricket they are compulsory for all batsmen and any fielder within of the bat.
Cricket helmets cover the whole of the skull, and have a grill or perspex visor to protect the face.
FieldersFielding in the sport of cricket is the action of fielders in collecting the ball after it is struck by the batsman, in such a way as to either limit the number of runs that the batsman scores or get the batsman out by catching the ball in flight or running the batsman out. A fielder or fieldsman...
who are positioned very close to the batsman (e.g. silly mid off) often wear a helmet and shin guards.