Cricket Australia set to enforce neck protectors for all batters from next month

SYDNEY (AP) — Every Australian player in international and domestic cricket will be required to wear neck protectors while batting or face sanctions under new rules set to be imposed from Oct. 1.

Changes to Cricket Australia's playing conditions for the 2023-24 season, outlined on its website Thursday, will make it mandatory for batters in all sanctioned competitions to wear the neck protectors that are fitted to the rear of batting helmets when facing fast or medium pace bowling.

The changes will impact several of Australia’s international batters, including David Warner, Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja, who do not currently wear the protectors when batting.

CA had previously recommended the use of neck protectors following the death of former test batter Phillip Hughes in 2014, but several veteran players have been reluctant to take them up. Smith, who was not wearing a neck guard when struck by Jofra Archer at Lord’s in the 2019 Ashes series, said at the time that the extra protection made him “feel claustrophobic.”

Hughes died in 2014 after being struck on the back of the head by a sharply-rising delivery during a domestic Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and South Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The 25-year-old Hughes was rushed to a nearby hospital but died two days later as a result of a traumatic head injury.

Cricket Australia will require players to wear the neck guards in international cricket when representing national teams both home and away. And although international umpires won’t enforce the regulation like in domestic cricket, players could face sanctions under CA’s code of conduct for a breach.

The regulation to wear neck protectors does not apply to batters facing slow or spin bowling, or to wicketkeepers and close-in fielders.

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