Phil Hughes – the lessons (or not)

There is so much to rejoice about as we enjoy Phil’s life but so much sadness too as we think of his family, team mates and friends.- and the loss to cricket.

As players past and present offer their comments about safety and “where now” there appears to be a theme of “freak incident”, “very rare”, “no need for change – except review of helmet design”.

I find that rather defensive, and don’t agree.

I see no reason why aiming at a batsman’s head needs to be part of the game. If the justification is “to unsettle a batsman” or “to stop him keeping on the front foot” then aiming below the head would surely have the same effect. I therefore propose some ideas of my own; though like so many of my ideas they are likely to be ignored and then implemented a few years down the line!

So here we go:

1. Make it illegal to bowl a ball above shoulder height. Penalty: No ball and warning. Repetition – bowler stopped from continuing for remainder of innings (as occurs with running on the wicket).

2. Players fielding close to the wicket should be able to wear shin pads but not helmets. To ensure safety of these players they should field “at a safe distance”. (It is ridiculous to permit layers of armour to enable crowding batsmen.)