HEADCASES

Tracing the origin of the cricket helmet from Dennis Amiss's painful experiences of the 1974/5 Ashes, 50 years ago

I thought about this photo a lot this week. It was taken from the Gillette Cup semi-final in 1980 between Sussex and Middlesex at Hove. You probably recognise the bowler – the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, now in jail. The jack-knifing batter is Wayne Daniel. The rather alarmed-looking non-striker is me. It was a moment that captured the rapidly-changing game, changes precipitated by events examined in our recent podcast series on the epic 1974/5 Ashes series.

Partly because they had precious little protection, more batters were injured by fast short-pitched bowling in those Tests than in any previous series – luckily none seriously - and perhaps for the first time, tailenders were seen as fair game if they hung around for long. The New Zealand no.11 Ewan Chatfield was felled by a bouncer from England’s Peter Lever shortly after the 1974/5 Ashes series, swallowed his tongue and his life was saved by England’s quick-thinking physio Bernard Thomas.

It was a watershed moment for the game. The days of the fast bowlers’ union were well and truly over, as the photo above also illustrates. Daniel and I were Middlesex’s last pair, and were certainly not spared by Imran. I still shudder at the memory of the ‘splat’ as the ball was slammed into the turf and soared past inches past Daniel’s neck. Neither of us owned helmets – they were still not regarded as an essential part of your kit – so both of us borrowed other batter’s lids. They were pretty rudimentary. Neither had a visor or a chin strap – as the image of Daniel’s helmet flying off proves. After Daniel’s narrow escape Imran soon knocked me over to polish off the Middlesex innings. But his aggression was counterproductive. Daniel took serious revenge, ripping apart the Sussex batting in a ferocious spell to take 6-15 and send Middlesex into the (last-ever) Gillette Cup final.

Daniel was one of the bowlers – and Imran was another – that had prompted Dennis Amiss to seek proper head protection for batters. It was after the harrowing experiences of the 1974/5 Ashes (when Amiss broke his hand and he watched as – half a century ago this week - Keith Fletcher was saved from a serious head injury by the badge on his England cap) that Amiss began thinking about helmets.

Keith Fletcher is struck on his unprotected forehead by Jeff Thomson, Sydney 1975

Being recruited by Tony Greig for Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket brought it into sharp focus. “I said to Greigy ‘there are 18 fast bowlers in this tournament [including Imran and Daniel] and they all bowl 90 miles per hour,’” Amiss says on the HEADHUNTERS podcast series. “‘The game has changed. They’re aiming for our heads now. We need proper protection.’ By chance as I was in a motor-cycle shop in Northampton or somewhere and I asked the owner if a motor cycle helmet could stop a cricket ball. He said – ‘well it will stop a double-barrelled shotgun from 10 yards so I should think so.’ I asked if I could take one to show to the boys and he gave me one.”

He accepted the role of guinea pig and batted in it in the early matches in World Series Cricket. “There were the inevitable jokes when I walked out in it at VFL park in Melbourne, Aussie fans calling out ‘Oi Amiss where’s your motor bike?!” but soon every batter wanted one. David Hookes had his jaw broken by Andy Roberts and had to eat with a straw for six weeks. When he had recovered and came back to play he asked if he could borrow my helmet as he would be facing Roberts again. The first ball he got was another bouncer from Roberts and he hooked it out of the ground. Richie Benaud on commentary said it was one of the great moments of cricket and ‘maybe these helmets will have a role in future!’”

Amiss compares his original motor cycle helmet with one of the first bespoke cricket versions

A typical understatement from the inimitable Benaud. Helmets have gone through many iterations since. Not only have they saved many players from a serious maiming (with one tragic exception ten years ago, of course) but they have also facilitated a new era of fearless, batting-adventure, of which the most recent expression is Bazball. The emblem of this new culture is the ramp shot. It contravenes the old batting lores – that you get out of the way of a fast, rising ball at all costs. For some ramp shots you actually initially place your head directly in the line of a fast, rising ball to flip it over your head.

It would not be possible to play the shot without robust head and face protection. The Bazballers have Amiss to thank for his pioneering spirit fifty years ago.

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