Phillip Hughes death: UK company Masuri say Australian opener was wearing 'outdated helmet'

Over the last few years, helmet designs have radically improved in cycling, American football and horseracing

Masuri, the UK company that manufactured the helmet worn by Phil Hughes when he was fatally struck in the back and side of the neck, has pointed out he was not wearing the latest model, which offers “extra protection” in the area where he was hit.

However, the latest one does not appear to offer much coverage to the area either. Hughes was desperately unlucky. He had turned almost 180 degrees away from the direction of the ball. As Geoffrey Boycott and others have pointed out, there will always be risks.

Safer helmets have been available for some time. Former Australian cricketer Bryce McGain wore a new, safer helmet for several matches in 2009. “The commentators had a go, saying ‘He looks like Darth Vader’, ‘He looks like Robocop’,” he said on Thursday.

“It didn’t bother me too much,” he added. “But only a couple of other players wore it and if you don’t have the players at the top – the ones on TV – wearing them, they won’t sell.” But even this helmet would have been unlikely to have prevented what happened to Hughes.

Over the last few years, helmet designs have radically improved in cycling, American football and horseracing, where the sports acknowledge the risk factors involved.

Changes in cricket’s guidelines were made a year ago and approved by the International Cricket Council, but they concern the ball sneaking between the peak of the helmet and the grill – as happened to Stuart Broad last summer – and they have not been enforced.

Batsmen can be quite particular about what they wear on their head, and helmets that do not conform to the new regulations are commonplace at every level of the game.