Have helmets made cricket a more dangerous game?

Ian Chappell refused to wear a helmet until Kerry Packer ordered him to during the second year of World Series Cricket.

“‘Put a f---ing helmet on, son,’ Kerry told me [in 1978] and I said, ‘Kerry I don’t need a helmet, I don’t get hit.’ Kerry replied, ‘I’m not paying you for three months in hospital.’ ”

The latest distressing concussion suffered by Will Pucovski has led to a discussion on batting technique by medical experts and passionate responses from some of the game’s finest players.

Ian and Greg Chappell, who played most of their careers without helmets, fear that the added protection has made batsmen more susceptible to being struck.

However, Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey and Tim Paine, who batted in helmets, believe the debate is more complicated.

There is no definitive data from the pre-helmet era, which changed during World Series Cricket in the late 1970s. The catalyst was David Hookes suffering a broken jaw attempting to hook West Indian fast bowler Andy Roberts while batting in a cap.

Will Pucovski was hit on the helmet batting for Victoria last Sunday – the 12th time he’s been diagnosed with concussion.Credit: Getty Images

Pucovski, 26, suffered a dreadful blow on the helmet ducking into a Riley Meredith bouncer while playing a Sheffield Shield match for Victoria against Tasmania in Hobart last Sunday.

It is the 12th time he has been diagnosed with concussion, although further examination of his history by an expert medical panel two years ago believed a number of those were misdiagnoses. Another expert medical panel is being assembled to assess his future.

Ian and Greg Chappell believe Pucovski has a major technical flaw. He turns his head and takes his eye off the short ball.

Paine, who captained Pucovski in his only Test and stood behind him a number of times keeping for Tasmania against Victoria, believes that – for the most part – Pucovski has been unfortunate.

Greg Chappell, wearing his baggy green, hooks Ian Botham for four during the SCG Test in 1983.Credit: Fairfax Media

“The other day he made an error. He misjudged it,” Paine said.

“He didn’t watch the ball. So it was a bit of doubt in his mind, rather than technically because, believe it or not, Will Pucovski plays the short ball pretty well.”

The helmet

“Helmets save lives” was Hayden’s response to questions about whether one of cricket’s biggest innovations had led to poor batting techniques resulting in more players being hit.

“I’ll never forget meeting the late, great Kerry Packer with JL [Justin Langer]. He [Packer] broke into this yarn about the role of luck and his life, and then he turned to JL and said, ‘You should know about f---ing luck son. If they hadn’t invented helmets, you’d be dead.’

“There’s definitely a role for them. We’re not going to go back to a non-helmeted game.”

Greg Chappell agreed with his brother that they reluctantly wore helmets “because Kerry was paying the bills”.

John Dyson wearing an early model helmet during a Sheffield Shield match in 1980.Credit: Fairfax Media

“The early models were just a riding helmet that was refitted for cricket purposes, but they were too heavy for cricket,” Greg said. “If I had my time again, I reckon I would have gone for a baseball helmet.”

A medical expert close to cricket, who spoke anonymously so they could talk freely, told this masthead helmets prevent concussions in most cases but believes players are being hit in the head more in the post-helmet era.

“Hopefully helmets will improve with improved materials,” the expert said.

“Right now the helmet would become too heavy with any additional protection, but lighter products in the future will help.”

Technique

Ian and Greg Chappell believe poor technique is the fundamental reason why more batsmen are hit in the head more often. Both stated they had been hit in the head only once while batting.

Ian was 15 and playing club cricket in Adelaide on a wet wicket when he failed to step inside the ball hooking, and Greg as a young man playing county cricket for Somerset when the ball came off the back of the bat, also on a wet wicket.

They echoed the same mantra: watch the ball and step inside it if it’s short, so it’s always on the leg side.

“At least if you miss the ball, it misses you,” Greg said. “We grew up pre-helmets, and it was important to do it properly.

Ian Chappell attempts to hook Andy Roberts in a World Series Cricket match in 1978.Credit: Fairfax Media

“The sad thing is with helmets in play, it’s an afterthought when coaching batting, whereas in pre-helmet days it was one of the first things that you learnt. Now I see more people hit in a game that I saw in a career.”

Ian was “staggered” how much batting techniques had changed in cricket when he saw highlights of Australia’s triumphant 1974-75 Ashes series.

“In those days, batsmen predominantly went back and across, which was the way you were brought up,” Ian said.

“I was told as a young bloke that it’s what [Don] Bradman did, it’s what [Garry] Sobers did, and I thought, ‘Well, it was good enough for those two, it’s good enough for me.’

“Steve Smith is different, he’s more of a back foot player, but in general, it [the modern technique] is pushing forward. And once you’re coming forward, you can’t get inside the ball. You’re then relying on the ball to miss you, and that is not a good way to play.”

Highlights of Ian Chappell batting show his first movement is clearly back and across while Greg stays still with a slight movement from his back foot. Ricky Ponting, Hussey and Hayden all press forward to different degrees and pivot on a stationary back leg when they hook or pull rather than get inside the ball.

Matthew Hayden plays a pull shot in a Test against India at the SCG in 2008.Credit: Fairfax Media

The forward press

Hayden defended the forward press, using Ponting as exhibit A. The second-highest run-scorer in Test history behind Sachin Tendulkar, Ponting was a ferocious puller of the ball, yet his first movement was always forward.

“As soon as I go back and across, I’m in a very stationary position and I’m pretty anchored on my back foot,” Hayden said. “If you press forward, you’re in a dynamic position. You can now press onto the back foot [to hook and pull].

“But the critical element to both Ricky and my pulling, was the fact that our front leg acted as a counterbalance to our very high back lifts. Our front leg comes off the ground into our chest, and that acts as a counterbalance.

“So you get the power of the rotation through the shot. And that wasn’t taught to us because our forefathers were saying that you’ve got to go back and across.”

Hussey said he attempted to stand as still as possible at the crease and didn’t make a conscious effort to go forward or back before the ball was released.

Paine insisted there was no one-size-fits-all to technique when it comes to playing the short ball.

“I think the guys who play it well have the mentality they’re looking to score all the time, and then they’re in a better position because they’re looking to score,” Paine said. “They’re watching the ball a bit closer in a better position to make a decision a bit later.”

The medical expert consulted by this masthead believes the only long-term solution to batsmen being hit in the head is technical change.

“But that’s so hard to do unless you start as kids,” he said. “Once they get to the pro stage, technique change is very hard because it’s an ingrained movement pattern.”

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