Australia’s top cricketers including Steve Smith, David Warner and Usman Khawaja will be forced to wear an unfamiliar guard on their helmets or risk facing a fine in the future.
Cricket Australia announced a host of amendments for players representing the nation and competing in the domestic season including a requirement to wear a neck guard and the changing to a contentious rule in the Big Bash League.
At the end of each domestic season CA speaks with states and territories along with stakeholders including the Australian Cricketers’ Association about potential amendments to the game.
A major change for batters is the mandatory requirement for batters facing fast and medium bowling to wear a stem guard on their helmet.
The stem guard clips onto a normal helmet to protect a section on the back of a batter’s neck and was introduced in the wake of the tragic death of Phil Hughes who was hit during a Sheffield Shield match.
Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith do not wear the neck guard but will have to change that this season. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images.
Many batters around the world adopted the extra protection immediately but it was never made mandatory and Smith, Warner and Khawaja have all consistently gone out to bat without one.
Smith wore it briefly after he was hit in the head by Jofra Archer during the 2019 Ashes series but did not persist with it claiming the guard made him feel “claustrophobic” although he did score a double century wearing one.
CA’s head of cricket operations Peter Roach said the change was about improving playing conditions.
“Protecting the head and neck is extremely important in our sport,” he said.
“The neck protector product has come a long way in recent years and the decision to make them mandatory comes off the back of a lot of advice and consultation with a wide range of experts and stakeholders.”
Steve Smith did score a double century wearing the neck guard during the 2019 Ashes. Picture: Getty Images
The wearing of a neck guard will not be enforced by international umpires but could see players fined for failing to abide by CA’s code of conduct.
CA rarely steps in to punish players in instances where they are outside of ICC rules but examples include the bans imposed on Smith, Warner and Cameron Bancroft for their roles in Sandpaper gate.
Another instance was in 2013 when Khawaja, Shane Watson, James Pattinson and Mitchell Johnson were all forced to sit out of a Test match in India for failing to complete homework set out by the coach.
Other changes announced by CA include balls hit into the roof of Marvel Stadium during BBL matches will not be an automatic six.
The umpire will have to decide whether the ball was going over the boundary for six otherwise it will be deemed a dead ball.
The way overs and wickets are displayed in the results for limited overs matches will also change.
Results will include the balls remaining in the innings as well as how many wickets the batting team has remaining for successful run chases.
Sydney and Melbourne have a fight on their hands after Cricket Australia revealed it has not locked in its hallmark cricket Tests in both cities.
For stumping referrals in the BBL, the third umpire will only review the stumping decision and no other modes of dismissal such as caught.
Captains can still check other forms of dismissals, but they will need use one of their reviews.
The COVID Substitute has also been removed from the playing conditions in line with the change to the ICC playing conditions.
“Something as simple as adding how many balls were left in a run chase can make cricket more accessible to fans as well as ensuring we are continuing to modernise our game,” Mr Roach said.
“We saw success last season tweaking the playing conditions to reduce the delays in play and will continue to look for improvements in this area.
“To my knowledge, the Big Bash is the only cricket competition in the world that has successfully reduced innings times in recent years. Some minor changes in the playing conditions along with some real buy-in from players and coaches has helped us achieve this.”
