superkingdave
Hall of Fame Member
I doubt Mark Vermuelen would ever bat without a helmet, but he's hardly a good advert for the helmet makers!
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batsmen in modern times (since helmets) who never worn helmets??
- Thread starter Zinzan
- Start date
Sunny Gavasker never wore a helmet however he did finally have a plastic contraption under his floppy sun hat, once I think his hat came off due to wind or something and Sunny's head resembled a boiled egg with this plastic wrap around thing. I believe Sunny is the only batsman (during the era when helmets were introduced) who chose not to wear one even against the might of WI. Ironically it was the bowling of the WI which made him go out and wear the plastic thing under the hat.
Javed Mindad did not wear a grill on his helmet as far as I can remember and I could be wrong but I think Robin Smith did'nt wear a grill either.
Javed Mindad did not wear a grill on his helmet as far as I can remember and I could be wrong but I think Robin Smith did'nt wear a grill either.
C_C
International Captain
People who never wore a helmet :
Viv Richards and Sunny Gavaskar from what i can remember.
Ritchie Richardson never wore a helmet in the 80s and early 90s but in the last few years of his career he did wear a grille-less helmet.
Grille-less helmets were quiete common in the 80s....Graham Gooch, Dileep Vengsarkar, Alan Border, Carl Hooper, Mohammed Azharuddin, etc. all wore grille-less helmets, with Azhar switching to the grilled one in the last few years of his career.
On another note, its interesting that the gloves of the 1940s and 50s were better at protecting the hand than gloves from the 70s,80s and 90s...perhaps today's gloves compare or better it.
Those gloves were basically a leather pad with rubber/leather spikes on the back that absorbed most of the shock...however, it made the ball carry extremely well to the fielders and thus abandoned.
Viv Richards and Sunny Gavaskar from what i can remember.
Ritchie Richardson never wore a helmet in the 80s and early 90s but in the last few years of his career he did wear a grille-less helmet.
Grille-less helmets were quiete common in the 80s....Graham Gooch, Dileep Vengsarkar, Alan Border, Carl Hooper, Mohammed Azharuddin, etc. all wore grille-less helmets, with Azhar switching to the grilled one in the last few years of his career.
On another note, its interesting that the gloves of the 1940s and 50s were better at protecting the hand than gloves from the 70s,80s and 90s...perhaps today's gloves compare or better it.
Those gloves were basically a leather pad with rubber/leather spikes on the back that absorbed most of the shock...however, it made the ball carry extremely well to the fielders and thus abandoned.
Top_Cat
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I've got Ritchie in a full-grille helmet in the 1995 WI vs Aus series on video.
Obviously I'm not a physicist but I would have thought that a hard-rubber surface on the gloves would have meant that the force of impact would transfer straight to the fingers and would be more likely to result in breakages? Don't the softer foam gloves slow the ball down gradually on impact (well as gradually as an inch of padding can!) in the manner of crumple zones in cars?
C_C
International Captain
I stand corrected on Ritchie Richardson.
As per the force on the gloves, not necessarily.
If the object(glove) is rigid, it will transfer all the force applied to it to the next object(fingers).
However, if its too soft, it wont dampen it enough.
The key is to get a good balance between ridigity and elasticity. That is why for example, heavy duty springs are not exactly mushbuckets but quiete rigid.
The older gloves will jar your fingers and break em badly if struck from certain angles....but overall, it did a better job of protecting the fingers....just that it made the ball carry very consistently.
As per the force on the gloves, not necessarily.
If the object(glove) is rigid, it will transfer all the force applied to it to the next object(fingers).
However, if its too soft, it wont dampen it enough.
The key is to get a good balance between ridigity and elasticity. That is why for example, heavy duty springs are not exactly mushbuckets but quiete rigid.
The older gloves will jar your fingers and break em badly if struck from certain angles....but overall, it did a better job of protecting the fingers....just that it made the ball carry very consistently.
A question... if kids today were to start learning to do without helmets, would it help them play quick bowling better? There'd be no "oh I can take my eyes off the ball and duck blindly because I have a helmet" stuff going on. Hardly a match goes by in which that sort of stuff doesn't happen. If batsmen were to feel a real sense of danger, perhaps they'd learn to play the short stuff better. I'm talking about learning this way and growing up with it. I don't think it would work with batsmen who are already used to the helmet.
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age_master
Hall of Fame Member
i dont wear a helmet anymore, too hot and the bowling doesn't warrent it. i have vivid memories of Hooper going without the grill too
Kweek
Cricketer Of The Year
well we have to where a helmet until Senior level. so im used to it. though i dont really like it as it takes a bit of your sight(as i used to have glasses too(2 years back) and then my sight was very little. though with keeping I only use a Helmet standing up against a spinner pace bowlers i wear a cap.
social
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
In the early days of helmets, the grill was actually a visor made of perspex-like material.
Many players did not like these as they:
a. fogged up; and
b. distorted your view of the ball on the odd occasion that you were forced to look through the visor.
These two weaknesses in design (plus ego) led many players to adopt models with only ear and/or jaw protection or to change the positioning of the visor. Unfortunately, the latter practice led to many nasty injuries as the ball could then pass between visor and peak. I think Mohinder Armanath was one player that was struck badly in this fashion.
It was only after the wholesale introduction of the "grill" that full-faced helmets were used almost universally.
Many players did not like these as they:
a. fogged up; and
b. distorted your view of the ball on the odd occasion that you were forced to look through the visor.
These two weaknesses in design (plus ego) led many players to adopt models with only ear and/or jaw protection or to change the positioning of the visor. Unfortunately, the latter practice led to many nasty injuries as the ball could then pass between visor and peak. I think Mohinder Armanath was one player that was struck badly in this fashion.
It was only after the wholesale introduction of the "grill" that full-faced helmets were used almost universally.
Craig
World Traveller
Didn't he wear his Baggy Green on his Test debut when he walked out to bat and was wearing one when Vaas somehow got him out LBW?Top_Cat said:
I believe I have seen him wearing his Cap in ODIs as well on occasions, this was in the 90's as well (C & U 2nd Final springs to mind) and in Sharjah until he got decked by Sami.
Craig
World Traveller
Jimmy Adams anybody?
And I believe Robin Smith (?) got cleaned up by Ian Bishop during the the 1995 West Indies tour of England IIRC.
Both were wearing the no-grille helmets.
I know an English batsman got hit in the face, just not 100% of the batsman and bowler, Liam?
And I have seen a picture of Mike Gatting with a broken nose - a present from the great WI pace attack of the 80's.
And I believe Robin Smith (?) got cleaned up by Ian Bishop during the the 1995 West Indies tour of England IIRC.
Both were wearing the no-grille helmets.
I know an English batsman got hit in the face, just not 100% of the batsman and bowler, Liam?
And I have seen a picture of Mike Gatting with a broken nose - a present from the great WI pace attack of the 80's.
tooextracool
International Coach
just on the subject of grillless helmets- some that havent been mentioned:
hashan tillekratne was the latest person to still be wearing the grillless helmet, as recent as his last series. bryan young the NZ opener too batted without the grilled helmet.
i dont think javed miandad ever wore a grilled helmet.
hashan tillekratne was the latest person to still be wearing the grillless helmet, as recent as his last series. bryan young the NZ opener too batted without the grilled helmet.
i dont think javed miandad ever wore a grilled helmet.
Top_Cat
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No idea. You may well be right, though. As pointed out above in the example where he was bowled first ball by Curtly, sometimes against the quicks in the early days, he has come out helmet-less. Another example I just remember was in the 1996 World Cup where completely in opposition to what i said in my above post, it seems he didn't wear a helmet at all the whole tournament.
Jnr.
First Class Debutant
He did wear his Baggy Green on Test debut, and was wearing it when he was somehow adjudged lbw. I have heard some things about him not wearing a cap in WC96 (and also Top Cat has mentioned it here) - did he wear one when he made a ton against the Windies in that tournament?Craig said:
I don't think he wore a helmet in the Tsunami match either, or maybe he came out in one but took it off pretty quickly.
Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
Until recently lots of the West Indians didn't. Campbell, Adams, Hooper...amiller said:
Campbell and Horne have to be the two most insane Test-cricketers ever... opening the batting in England, on some treacherous pitches (in 1999 and 2000)... no grille, no armguard, just one flimsy thighpad... and it was the same for both of them.
And amazingly neither have ever been out hit-wicket.
Fortunately we now see helmetless batsmen, and grilleless batsmen extremely rarely, and it's encouraging to see the increase in wicketkeepers in helmets too.