New Zealand bowler Warren Barnes came into limelight when he used a helmet while bowling in a domestic match. The headgear worn by Barnes is a combination of a helmet and a mask, which covers his forehead and crown. It was only on Wednesday that Andrew Ellis was hit on the head in his follow-through in a one-day game.

According to observerbd.com, Barnes reckons that helmet should be made mandatory for bowlers. He foretold that soon laws would come into safe bowlers as well. He described, “The face mask was originally there to stop me from getting hit, as my follow through kept my eyes off the ball more than other bowlers. But as we have seen in a few cases around the world any bowler has the chance to get hit.”

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He further added, “I do hope more and more bowlers look into some sort of face protection especially around the T-20 game. As batters are hitting the ball harder and harder every year, it only makes sense to protect the bowlers, as in most cases they are the closest person the batter when it gets hit.”

Warren Barnes describes the need for bowlers’ protection

During a domestic one-day match on Wednesday, New Zealand opener Jeet Raval smashed a bowl back at medium-pacer and Canterbury captain Andrew Ellis at the Colin Maiden Park in Auckland. The ball hit the bowler on the forehead—an inch or so above his right eye and bounced off to clear the long-on boundary.

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Warren concluded by stating the fact that the game of cricket is upgrading with some extra protection for batsmen and umpires ten why not for the bowlers. The New Zealand bowler said, “The game is already made some big changes around protecting batters and even umpires from getting hit in certain places, so I think it’s just a matter of time before we see laws brought in to protect bowlers.”