A ricochet off Kerala's Salman Nizar's helmet brings focus on head-gears

A ricocheted shot off Salman Nizar's helmet nestled in the hands of Sachin Baby ensured Kerala a maiden Ranji Trophy final berth, but that moment of fortune has also placed the spotlight on this life-saving but often under-noticed cricket equipment. This newfound focus on helmets has two layers -- safety and cricketing laws. The sturdiness of the headgear saved Nizar's life after Gujarat's Arzan Nagwaswalla's full-blooded shot hit flush on the state emblem on his helmet.

Still, Nizar had to be carried to the hospital for scans and the positive results left the Kerala players a relieved lot. For a moment, the whole train of events also dragged everybody's mind back to the tragic end of Australia's Phillip Hughes. He died after being hit by a Sean Abott bouncer during a domestic match, his helmet failing to protect the neck area which was fatally struck in 2014.

Hughes' shocking demise had sparked a change in the rules. The powers that be converged to study the quality of helmets in use. Post an extensive research, cricket law-makers Marylebone Cricket Club, under the supervision of top brains like Kumar Sangakkara and Sourav Ganguly, decide to standardise the quality of helmets used by batters, wicketkeepers while standing up to the stumps and close-in fielders such as forward short leg or silly point.

Nizar was fielding at forward short on Friday when he copped that blow on his helmet. Further the ICC and MCC also rewrote the rule book in 2017, making it legal, the catches off the helmet worn by a fielder, except in slip positions. But that apart, the quality and manufacturing methods of helmets saw constant changes over the decades, from the day when former England batter Patsy Hendren wore a hat with cotton padding made by his wife in a match.

Then in the 1970s, former England captain Dennis Amiss wore a modified biker's helmet in Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket where some of the best fast bowlers of the time had assembled. "Probably, the arrival of some fearsome pacers in the 70s from the West Indies and Australia changed the whole scenario. Helmets and other body guards were needed against them to protect your limbs," a former cricketer told PTI.

"But still, back in the days, facing a fast bowler without a helmet was a matter of courage and technical knowledge. So many had done that -- Viv (Richards), Sunny (Sunil Gavaskar) etc," he said. There is this chilling footage in the documentary 'Fire in Babylon' where former West Indian fast bowler Michael Holding almost took out the head of England batter Brian Close with a vicious lifter after he came out without a helmet.

"Once the helmet, and later better helmets, came into use then the batsmen became more brave, stood up to the fast bowlers. They knew that even an occasional hit will not be that painful," the former player added. Along with the rolling years, the methods and materials used in helmet manufacturing too underwent transformation.

"Many years back, a cricket helmet was front-open and was made of readily available shock absorbing materials. But now a lot more science goes into the making as we use carbon fibre, titanium, and high density form inside the helmet to give better protection," a top cricketing gear manufacturer in Meerut told PTI. There was a time when batters such as New Zealand's former opener Bruce Edgar used a glass shield in front of the helmet, akin to a motorcycle helmet.

"Now, even the grill and the back-of-the-head protector too is made of shock resistant materials, especially after what happened to Phil Hughes. Even the sides and top are well protected now, you can say 360 degree protection," he noted. Now, the clan of helmets will have another distinction. Nizar's headgear that played a massive role in adding a new turn to the state’' cricketing journey will be preserved in Kerala Cricket Association museum. Heady days for helmets then! PTI