Marylebone Cricket Club(MCC) World Cricket Committee has backed the important discussion with England and Wales Cricket Board(ECB) to launch a design project for manufacturers to develop “head protection” for bowlers.

The game has been overly tilted in favour of the batsmen for a long while now and one of the big reason behind that are these heavy bats that batsmen employ across all formats. It has also made the sport increasingly dangerous for close-in fielders and bowlers. The MCC World Cricket Committee has ambitioned itself to do something about it. 

The panel is chaired by former England Captain Mike Gatting and includes former India and Australia skippers Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting as well. 

In a media release after the meeting, the MCC stated, "viewed footage of recent accidents involving bowlers who had been hit immediately after completing his delivery by powerful straight drives, especially in T20 cricket." and added, "The incidents, including one involving Nottinghamshire’s Luke Fletcher last year, gave serious cause for concern,"

The ECB has already increased its financial support for assisting players and umpires who have suffered serious on-field injuries. 

The MCC further added in their statement, “It was also felt that a review of existing protection for batsmen and fielders should be conducted to ensure that current models are providing the best possible protection,”

(Inputs from Hindustan Times)