Otago bowler uses a protective gear during a Super Smash T20 game in New Zealand

Cricket has experienced many changes over the years may it be the rules, the protective gears or anything else. The tragic incidents have led to increasing protection to the batsmen under the helmets. Phil Hughes, the Australian cricketer, was the victim of the bouncer which led to his unfortunate death on the field and shocked the cricketing fraternity. However, a protective gear for the bowlers has come up this time around which has been invented by the Otago bowler Warren Barnes and the team’s coach Rob Walter. This is surely going to delight the fans which will also help the bowlers to not sway from the ball hit ferociously by the batsmen.

Very often we have seen, the ball smashed by the batsmen hits the bowlers when he is in his follow-through. The position rarely allows the bowler to stay away from the line of the ball. Also, the bowler named Luke Fletcher was hit straight on the head earlier this year and his situation seemed worse during the impact but recovered soon after taking a medical rehab. Even the players on the field were shocked and had to be informed about the health of the bowler constantly.

Will ICC approve the gear?

Warren Barnes, the bowler of Otago, New Zealand, has come up with a unique idea of a helmet for the bowlers which will save them from being hit by the ball. He experimented with the protective gear during one of the games in the ongoing Super Smash T20 tournament in New Zealand. According to the New Zealand Stuff, it is learnt that Warren Barnes and Rob Walter has joined hands to design the headgear.

The helmet resembles baseball umpire’s helmet and a track cyclist’s headpiece. Barnes used the protective gear during the game against Northern Knights and bowled with the helmet. He scalped three wickets while conceding 33 runs in the match. But the fearlessness must have crept in surely with helmet protecting his face and head. Though it remains to be seen if the International Cricket Council (ICC) approves its use at the international level. The idea is superb and if the batsmen are allowed to wear so many gears to protect themselves, then bowlers too have all the right to wear the helmet while bowling.