Shaun Marsh admonished for wearing non-compliant helmet

Marsh was reprimanded for using a helmet which did not meet CA regulations

Shaun Marsh became the first player to be admonished by Cricket Australia (CA) for not wearing a helmet which was compliant with CA’s new State Equipment and Apparel Regulations. He was reprimanded yesterday following the match he played on Monday, October 5.

In the Matador Cup match that took place on Monday, Marsh had scored a century in Western Australia’s loss to South Australia. He chose to wear a helmet that did not comply with the new regulations that were introduced by the CA on October 1.

The new rule requires “all Australian and State contracted players to wear a helmet compliant with the British Standard – BS7928:2013 ‘Specification for head protectors for cricketers’”, CA said in a statement.

An International Cricket Council (ICC) directive for the member countries was the reason that the new regulations were put into place by the CA. The directive tells the members to adopt the British Standard as the new international standard for helmets. CA had informed all its players in August that the rule would come into effect from the start of the 2015-16 summer.

CA had given players the choice to either use a compliant helmet which was provided by the cricketing body or to make sure that their manufacturer provided them with one that met the requirements. A compliant helmet can be recognised by a sticker on the helmet. Random compliance checks are conducted by umpires throughout the Matador Cup.

Cricket has always had the perpetual debate on whether the regulations for using a helmet had to be changed. The untimely and tragic death of former Australian opener Phillip Hughes last year led to the upgradation of safety standards for using a helmet being taken in a more serious way. Although the British standard – BS7928:2013 – was in place almost a year before the Hughes incident took place, CA has only enforced the rule now.

Because it was the first offence by Marsh in the last 18 months, match referee Stephen Bernard offered a reprimand to the player which was accepted by Marsh.

Marsh had earlier made 108 in a record opening stand of 216 runs along with Australian youngster Cameron Bancroft (176). This helped the Western Australia Warriors to reach a massive 350-4 in 50 overs. In reply, South Australia was powered home by Travis Head’s double hundred (202 from 120 balls) and Callum Ferguson’s century (112 from 118 balls) with 21 balls to spare.

Both Marsh and Bancroft are looking to earn a place in the squad for Australia’s home series against New Zealand next month after having been selected for the Bangladesh tour, which is now postponed.