Redesigning the cricket helmet

Cricket is one of the oldest and most original of all modern sports, originating somewhere between 700 and 900 years ago in England, with international competition beginning a century ago and almost no major rule changes since. As incredible as it may seem to the uninitiated in this most beguiling of contests, each international match lasts 30 hours over five days and often ends without a result, with each international series comprising five such matches (150 hours) also frequently ending without a clear winner. Played with a small, very hard ball which is bowled (thrown with a straight arm), at up to 160 km/h, it is illustrative of the staid mindset afflicting the governing body of the sport that helmets for the human being in the firing line were not introduced until 30 years ago despite a history of horrendous injury.

Like nearly everything else in a sport afflicted by stubborn traditionalism, the design of the cricket helmet has trailed well behind the technologies available and with mid-2004 university tests showing that helmets can delay a batsman’s reactions by up to a quarter of a second, you’d think that we might have seen a rethink of cricket helmet design since then, but we haven’t noticed one. Inspired by those tests, designer Ravinder Sembi has reengineered the cricket helmet with a view to overcoming this fundamental problem.

Tests were conducted in 2003 and 2004 at the Northumbria University School of Psychology and Sport Sciences by Dr Nick Neave investigating the physical and mental demands during an intense batting practice over eight overs when wearing a standard non-vented safety helmet and when not wearing a helmet at all. The research revealed that wearing helmets led to significant attentional impairments and slower reaction times in certain tests. Given that these tests were conducted in not-so-sunny England, and not in the semi-tropical climates where most cricketers play, such as the midday sun of Mumbai, Lahore, Brisbane etcetera, the results could be indicative of a huge potential breakthrough in cricketing accessories.

The findings were presented at the British Psychological Society's annual conference at Imperial College, London in April, 2004 and hopefully some of the major sporting companies have been paying attention, as we’ve yet to see a significant change in design from the fully-enclosed helmet of recent times.

The remifications of these findings will not only have an impact on cricketers, but also for anyone who routinely wears a helmet for safety purposes, from construction workers and military personnel through to other sports uses including horse riding, motor racing, motorcycling, cycling or whenever a significant increase in body temperature is likely to occur.

"Whereas the head only accounts for 7-10% of the total body surface, temperatures at the head are typically higher than in other body regions,” said Dr Nick Neave.

"Helmet use reduces airflow over the head and this has led to speculation that individuals who routinely wear safety helmets may be prone to heat-related stress and tasks requiring a high degree of attention can be more affected by this.

"Our research has revealed that whilst wearing a helmet has no detrimental physiological affect for the user, it did lead to significant attentional impairments and slower reaction times in certain test conditions which could affect those cognitive skills essential for successful batting performance, just as many cricketers have suspected.

"Protective helmets recommended for use in cricket are not required to have ventilation gaps which would allow for heat to transfer from the head, although some teams do use them.

...continued