Johannesburg:
The makers of the helmet worn by the critically injured Australian batsman Phillip Hughes have stated that the player was not wearing their advanced model when he suffered a heavy blow on the head by a bouncer during South Australia’s Sheffield Shield clash with NSW.
Hughes has been admitted in the St Vincent Hospital, where he was kept in an induced coma before undergoing surgery.
Masuri, the UK-based manufacturer of the helmet stated that Hughes was not wearing their original Test model helmet and television images showed he was hit by the ball to the rear of the grille and below of the shell. They further said affected area was the most vulnerable part of head and neck that helmet cannot fully protect, a sports channel reported.
However, the newly-developed Masuri Vision Series helmet, which supersedes the 2013 helmet worn by Phil Hughes, does afford batsmen extra protection in this region-and still allows comfortable movement, said the company in a statement.
Masuri’s managing director Sam Miller said that the thoughts of everyone at Masuri are with Phillip and they wished him a full and speedy recovery. He added they are working continuously with the governing authorities worldwide to reduce the risk of injury to players.
