WORDS OF WARNING 17/7/2008
The safety guidelines that require players under 18 years old to wear helmets when batting or standing up to keep wicket are well known and accepted, but two recent incidents show that the risks of batting without a helmet apply to older players as well
In the first incident in June, a 43 year old player from North Crawley in the North of Bucks, batting in a Four Counties League match, was hit in the face by an accidental beamer and lost an eye as a consequence.

And early in July a 52 year old from Ferndown in Dorset was partially paralysed after being hit on the head by an apparent beamer and suffering a fractured skull. His son said, "All I saw was the ball coming in and it was a full toss. I saw the ball hit my dad on the head and he fell on the stumps."

All batsmen who choose not to wear helmets should be aware of the risks they are taking.