Hughes incident shows we can’t be 100% sure about safety: Amiss who brought 'motorcycle' helmet to cricket

Manchester: Safety equipment in cricket have seen a generational shift in standards since Dennis Amiss wore a motorcycle helmet against the fearsome fast bowlers of 1970s, but the pioneering former England opener understands that rare fatalities such as the tragic death of Australian Phillip Hughes cannot be ruled out entirely.

Amiss reshaped the game forever by wearing a rather heavy motorcycle helmet with a polycarbonate visor in the World Series Cricket staged between 1977 and 1979 in Australia.

Some of the best fast bowlers of the time such as Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thompson, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner, Colin Croft and Imran Khan played in the WSC.

“People would say that because you were the first person to take a helmet. I went to the WSC. There were 19 fast bowlers who could bowl at 90 miles an hour. Having faced Lillie and Thompson two years previously, knowing the difficulties they gave us, I thought the head is so important,” Amiss told PTI.

“If you get hit, there's serious consequences. As we saw with Philip Hughes, when he got hit on that vein there and died on the pitch, which was a terrible situation. So, I thought helmets would help. So, I took a motorcycle helmet with a polycarbonate visor to WSC,” said Amiss.

Amiss, who played 50 Tests and is the first batter to score a hundred in ODIs, was expectedly sledged initially.

“I got a lot of stick for it. Hey, Amos, where's your motorbike? But David Hookes got his jaw broken in one match. He was sipping through a straw for six weeks. He said, can I borrow your helmet? I've got to play Andy Roberts. He did.

“The first ball he faced bounced straight at his head, and he hooked it for six, which was a great moment. I was watching it and Richie Benaud said that was the defining moment in cricket. This chap's been sipping through a straw for six weeks, having had his jaw broken.

“He's got the same bowler, the same ground, pacy wicket, he's hooked it for six out of the ground,” said the 82-year-old.

You can never be 100% sure about player safety

Hughes' untimely death resulted in the ICC bringing in several changes to improve player safety including the introduction of a concussion substitute in Test cricket.

Amiss feels the authorities have done a decent job in protecting cricketers but the incident involving Hughes shows that the danger will always lurk around.

“If you do put more protective material in, you're going to make it heavier. But it's much lighter now than it ever was before. And it was very heavy and very hot.

“I played in Madura (in New South Wales), I think it was. It was humid and hot. I batted all morning against the Aussies, and I nearly passed out. So that was the first one, which was heavy and hot. But then we put in the metal bars, and made it a bit lighter.

“I don't think you can be 100% there, but I think we've done a pretty good job in protecting people. I mean, Philip Hughes was very, very unlucky,” said Amiss.

Bedi saved my Test career

Amiss was struggling against the Indian spin trio of Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna and BS Chandrasekhar in the 1972 series, particularly against the mercurial leg-spinner from Bangalore.

With England due to tour Pakistan after the India series, Amiss had to do better his game against spin.

That was when his friend at Northamptonshire, Bedi, came to his rescue.

“I was left out of the side after two or three Test matches. I wasn't playing particularly well, especially against Mr. Chandrasekhar, who kept getting me out. And we were going to Pakistan afterwards, so I had to get some cricket."

“But I couldn't practice because the practice wickets were in the middle where the Test was being played. Bishan came in and had a chat because he was playing county cricket for Northants."

“He said, Dennis, why you're not scoring runs. I said, I've got to practice and I can't. We're going to Pakistan and there's not much time."

"He said, leave it with me. He came back and said, you've got a net. I fixed it.” Amiss recalled that Bedi, apart from himself, made both Prasanna and S Venkataraghavan bowl at him.

“He said, let the boys go back in the coach (bus) to the hotel. You stay behind. We'll have an hour's practice. I will bowl at you. Prasanna and Venkat will bowl at you, but no Chandrasekhar because he's got the sign over you. And those chaps, they simulated a match about bat and pad.

“Mr. Eknath Solkar was such a fine, close fielder, wasn't he? We simulated a match and they would say, that's out or that's not out. That hour was just so important to my career.” All those had a bright effect on Amiss’ batting during the 1972-73 tour to Pakistan.

The three-Test series ended in a 0-0 draw, but Amiss topped the run chart with 406 runs averaging 81 with two hundreds.

“It not only got me in a better frame of mind, but I think it probably saved my career because I might not have gone and been in the side in Pakistan straight away."

“But I was able to, after that, scored two 100s and a 99 in the next three Test matches in Pakistan because of what Bishan did in that last Test match, which was just unbelievable. That a player on the opposition side should come and help so much,” said Amiss.