Ashes 2019 | CA proposes to make neck guards mandatory after Steve Smith's fall

08/19/2019

Following the Steve Smith incident, Cricket Australia’s sports science and sports medicine chief Alex Kountouris said it was only a matter of time before neck guards became mandatory. Smith was batting on 80* when a fearsome bouncer by Jofra Archer knocked him down which ended up as concussion.

Ever since Australia lost Philip Hughes, in 2014, after the batsman passed away due to a head injury suffered during a Sheffield Sheild game, the team has been extremely serious about better safety measures for batsmen on the field. Hughes was knocked out after he was hit on the base of the skull by a bouncer from Sean Abbott. Following an independent investigation into the tragedy, Cricket Australia introduced new rules for concussion substitutes in domestic games.

This policy was then eventually adopted by the International Cricket Council and cricket witnessed its first concussion substitute when Marnus Labuschagne came in for Steve Smith, who was retired hurt, on Sunday- the final day of the Lord's Test.

The above-mentioned investigation that was carried out following Hughes’ death also suggested that first-class players in Australia wear helmets made to British safety standards while batting against medium pace or fast bowling. These safety measures included the use of specially designed neck guards, known as StemGuards.

However, these neck guards haven't been made mandatory yet and Smith, who collapsed on the ground on Saturday, wasn't wearing one. He revealed the reason for not wearing one, later on, stating that the guard made him claustrophobic and uncomfortable.

Now that the Smith incident occurred at Lord's, the Cricket Australia’s sports science and sports medicine chief Alex Kountouris said that the day wasn't far away when neck guards became mandatory. He revealed that the International Cricket Council, Cricket Australia, the England and Wales Cricket Board, and helmet manufacturers recently completed a major review.

“Helmet manufacturers did the right thing and came out with products (after Hughes’ death). There was no real knowledge of the mechanism, what exactly they were trying to protect or stuff like that,” Kountouris told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“But since that time we have done a lot of research. We actually have a pretty good understanding of that now.”

“Obviously, at some point, we want to make it a requirement to wear but we want to make sure we have the right products – we haven’t seen what the products are at the moment,” he said. “When we get to that point, I think we’ll be comfortable to say: ‘Let’s make it a requirement’. There is still a little time to go but we are not far away.”

Peter Brukner, a former doctor of the Australian team, said he was shocked to see that some top players still don’t wear neck guards.

“I think it should be (mandatory),” he told The Sydney Morning Herald.