Cricket Australia strongly recommends that community associations take all practical steps to adopt the ICC directive and mandate that all junior and senior players wear British Standard 7928:2013 compliant helmets from 2019/20 season onwards when batting, wicket-keeping up to the stumps and fielding in close to the batter.
Consistent with Cricket Australia’s commitment to player safety and an ICC directive in 2015, it is mandatory for Cricket Australia, State Contracted cricketers and players in CA pathway competitions in Australia to wear helmets that are compliant with British Standard 7928:2013 when batting, wicket-keeping up to the stumps and fielding in close to the batter.

Why are we making this recommendation?
● We want to ensure community cricket is as safe as it can be.
● Research is showing that the ball making contact with the head is one of the most common areas of injury.
● Wearing a British Standard Helmet gives players an extremely low chance of absorbing a critical head injury.

from Cricket Australia, June 2019

HELMETS IN QSDCA CRICKET

• Qld Sub Districts Cricket Association Inc. has adopted Cricket Australia’s Helmet Policies.

• This means all games: Super 20, Sunday 50, Bridging, Over 40’s or Saturday.

• This means all batters wear helmets for ALL types of bowling.

• This means all wicketkeepers wear helmets when standing up to the stumps.

Older wicketkeepers can lose the helmet when standing back.

• This means junior wicketkeepers (under 18) wear helmets when closer than 7m from the stumps.

Junior wicketkeepers can lose the helmet when more than 7 metres back.

The umpires decide the 7 metres.

• This means fielders wear helmets when closer than 7m from the bat except for gully to leg gully.

The umpires decide the 7 metres and the gully positions.

• Broken or damaged helmets should be replaced and not used again.

• When there’s no official umpires captains should agree before the start of the game about:
• where the 7 metres is and
• if there are U18 wicketkeepers.

What if player doesn’t wear a helmet when they should?
• The umpire is not allowed to let the game go on till you do.
• The Laws of Cricket already say –
o Teams can lose 5 penalty runs for unfair time wasting.
o Batters can be timed out.
o The match can be awarded for refusal to play.
o Teams and players can be reported to the Association and lose points, be fined or disqualified.

So put a helmet on….