Moments that changed cricket forever: Wearing the ultimate protective gear - helmet

Mike Brearley’s helmet

That honour goes to one Graham Yallop who, ironically, got his chance in the Test team because of the WSC defections.

Yallop was one of the few Australian players to stand up to the express West Indian bowling attack on their home grounds and some amount of credit for that goes to the helmet which he started wearing from Barbados onwards after an almighty sock to the jaw in a tour game.

He was apparently considered so good after this series that he was promptly handed the Australian captaincy for the upcoming Ashes. Australia lost 5-1 but then, a captain is only as good as his team.

Graham Yallop, wearing a crash helmet against West Indies

While his teammates were busy endorsing the benefits of helmets to the world, Tony Greig was a vocal critic of them. His standpoint was that helmets would encourage the bowlers to bowl more bouncers, and that would make the game more dangerous.

Sadly, Tony is not with us today but he would have happily eaten humble pie – the helmet has not only made the game safer, but it has also evened the contest between bat and ball on bouncy surfaces.

Read more about such events which altered the way cricket was played over the years – The moments that changed cricket forever.