Important Changes to Helmet Safety Standard Requirements

“The International Cricket Council (ICC) has adopted a new international standard for helmets which is ‘British Standard – BS7928:2013’. Cricket Australia (CA) is supporting the international standard, which means that anyone who plays hard-ball cricket in Australia is strongly recommended to wear British Standard helmets which meet this highest safety standard.

CA is committed to player safety and because of this and the ICC’s directive, it is mandatory for all CA, state and pathway players in CA managed competitions to wear BS7928:2013 helmets when batting, wicket-keeping up to the stumps and fielding in close to the batter.

These recommendations are all about safety and therefore it’s essential we all adopt and enforce this mandate this as soon as possible to ensure we provide the safest possible environment for our players to play cricket.

To improve helmet safety, the ICC worked with British sports protection experts and consequently it is the British Standard that has been updated and chosen to be the de facto international standard for helmet safety. The British Standard sets a higher all-round standard for helmet safety and its key benefits include:

  • an enhanced test for projectile-facial contact that assesses for penetration of the ball through the faceguard and subsequent contact of the faceguard onto the face
  • a separate test for men’s and junior sized balls
  • a new test for improved protection of the temporal (side) region of the head
  • a new test for improved occipital (rear) protection of the head”

For further information and resources please visit: https://www.community.cricket.com.au/clubs/policies/helmets

*The above information has been provided by Cricket Australia for community clubs and their members.

It is important to note that most specialist cricket stores have been selling helmets that comply with the new safety standard for the last few years.

 Before deciding to buy a new helmet check your existing product to see if it is compliant. The safety standard BS7928:2013 may be visible somewhere. Other signs of a compliant helmet include a fixed, non-adjustable grill and thicker peak as the main points. A non-compliant helmet has white nuts on the adjustable grill a large gap between peak and grill and very thin and fragile peak.

We will soon be announcing a discount for members needing a new helmet as we will be purchasing in bulk to update our training kits. More details will be announced this week.