Could This Year's Helmet Have Helped Avoid Injury?

Masuri, the manufacturer of the helmet Phillip Hughes was wearing, is seeking video footage of the moment he was struck to establish how he sustained such serious injuries.

Hughes was wearing a Masuri Original Test model helmet, which does not fully protect the back of a batsman's head, a particularly vulnerable area. But the Winchester-based company has now developed a new model - the Vision Series - which offers more protection to the back of the head while still allowing the batsman comfortable movement.

A Masuri spokesman declined to comment on whether the left-handed batsman might have escaped serious injury if he had been wearing a Vision Series helmet but he confirmed that the company would be studying footage. "Masuri is actively seeking as much TV and video footage of the incident as possible, to be able to see more conclusively exactly where the player was hit," Masuri said in a statement. "Masuri would immediately like to join with the world of cricket in wishing Phil Hughes a full and speedy recovery.

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"From the footage and pictures currently available, it appears that Phil Hughes was struck to the rear of the grille and below the back of the shell, missing his Masuri Original Test model helmet. This is a vulnerable area of the head and neck that helmets cannot fully protect while enabling batsmen to have full and proper movement.

"The newly developed Masuri Vision Series helmet, which supersedes the 2013 helmet worn by Phil Hughes, does afford batsmen extra protection in this region - and still allows comfortable movement."

Masuri is one of the helmet manufacturers who have worked closely with the England and Wales Cricket Board, International Cricket Council and British Standards in developing helmets. But most of the improvements have focused strengthening grilles and reducing the gap between the grille and peak to prevent serious facial injuries.

"There's a new British Standard for helmets that is going through the testing houses at the moment," Angus Porter, chief executive of the Professional Cricketers' Association, said.

"The old British Standard didn't even test the grille impacts and that was an obvious flaw. So we have been working with the ECB, the ICC and British Standards over the last couple of years and that new standard is ready to be implemented."