4 instances when bowlers donned a face gear in cricket

Every sportsperson is prone to injuries at some point in their career, and so is a player in the game of cricket. The players have to be very careful when they indulge in the game, as one big injury can lead to a massive change in their career. This is the reason why players use shields or protection to reduce the risk by as much margin as possible.

In cricket, the batter, wicketkeeper, players in the slip cordon (in Test cricket), and umpires use helmets or some other cricketing device to keep themselves safe from the ball as they are the ones closest to the cricket pitch. The bowlers are the ones who are exposed to the ball on the higher side. By any chance, if they fail to react to the ball hit by the batter and it hits their face or any part of the body for that matter, the damage can prove to be fatal.

There have been a few instances in cricket where the bowlers used face gear or face protection while bowling so that they can prevent themselves from being injured. Here we look at-

4 incidents in cricket where bowlers used a face shield

1. Warren Barnes in Super Smash T20 championship

The Otago Volts cricketer Warren Barnes was the first one to set the trend when he, along with Rob Walters designed a protective gear for the bowlers to wear. Barnes experimented with it during a Super Smash T20 championship match against the Northern Knights in 2017.

He did not suffer any injury prior to his experiment, but there had been instances when the bowlers were hit by the ball and the bruises landed them in a very difficult position.

The protective gear did not affect his performance a tiny bit as he went on to scalp three wickets in that game, he seemed very confident in his game as the face gear had minimized the risk of him being injured.