Choosing a cricket helmet: the label, and the rule that decides.

What a helmet can and cannot do

Nothing on this page says a helmet is certified, safe or legal. The standard on the label and the rule of the body running the cricket decide that. No body presents a helmet as concussion prevention: the ECB's professional concussion guidelines (current on the ECB site in 2026) say head protectors mainly reduce the risk of skull and face fracture rather than concussion, and the ICC says equipment cannot always prevent death or permanent disability. The NSW State Coroner, Magistrate Michael Barnes, found on 4 November 2016 that Phillip Hughes was struck on an area of the left side of his neck not protected by his helmet, and that even the most modern equipment then available would not have protected it. A suspected head injury needs medical care; the bodies' rules are on concussion rules by board.

The standard on the label

BSI lists BS 7928:2013+A1:2019, "Specification for head protectors for cricketers", as current, published on 30 June 2019. BSI's summary says it covers head and neck protectors for adult and junior cricketers, with a drop test for impact attenuation and a projectile test of whether the ball or the faceguard reaches a no-contact zone of the face. It does not cover testing with a women's-size ball or variants such as kwik cricket, and its test protocol is built around batting impacts, though close fielders and keepers may wear these helmets.

The ICC's helmets page says helmets are tested separately against a men's ball (5.5 oz) and a junior ball (4.75 oz), and that a compliant helmet's label should name the standard and say which ball or balls it was tested against. The ICC links a list of helmets meeting BS 7928:2013 and BS 7928:2013+A1:2019, dated 29 September 2026 and split into senior, junior or both; we did not open it. A separate standard, BS 7928-2:2009, covers face protectors for wicket-keepers.

Older standards are on their way out of some rules: NZC's 2024-25 policy tells its Major Associations to remove helmets compliant only with BS 7928:1998 or AS/NZS 4499.1:1997.

Which edition? The ICC's documents disagree

Both are given because the ICC has not resolved it in the documents we opened. The boards word it differently again; the helmet standards page has every version.

Who must wear one, and where

The ECB 2022 rule is the 2022 text; later editions are not used on this site. The ECB's 2025 recreational regulations are read from a copy reproduced in a Cornwall Cricket handbook. No BCCI or Cricket South Africa helmet rule was found. Each body's current document governs its own cricket.

Women's and junior balls

The ICC says there is no women's helmet standard. Because the women's ball sits between the men's and junior sizes, it recommends helmets tested against both balls, or at least the junior ball, since a smaller ball could pass through the gap above the faceguard of a helmet tested only for the men's ball. NZC's 2024-25 policy says women must use helmets tested against both, or at least the junior size. The ECB's Head Protector Regulations (2022 edition) went further for the matches they covered: in women's cricket a head protector had to be certified against both the men's and the junior ball. The 2026 Laws renamed the balls Size 1, 2 and 3, and no source we found maps the standard's test balls onto the new names.

Neck protectors

Appendix A.2.3 of the 2026 Laws counts neck guards as part of the protective helmet. The ICC says the 2019 amendment to BS 7928 added specifications for neck protectors, while standards resellers, seen only in search-result summaries and unconfirmed, describe it as adding a facial projectile test and junior ball sizes; BSI's own page describes the tests without saying which edition introduced each one. The ICC's January 2024 regulations make a neck protector optional when batting in international cricket; Cricket Australia requires one for batters facing fast or medium pace in all CA-sanctioned competitions from 2023-24; NZC requires one for its international and Major Association domestic players. ESPNcricinfo reported on 31 March 2021 that from that season the ECB stopped a dislodged helmet or neck guard from causing a hit-wicket dismissal in its competitions. The Laws contain a similar exclusion: under Law 29.2.1.4 of the 2026 edition, the detached equipment that can break the wicket does not include the striker's protective helmet or any part of it as defined in Appendix A.2.3. See neck protectors.

After a blow, and altering a helmet

The ICC says any component that takes a severe blow should be replaced even if no damage is visible. NZC's 2024-25 policy says a helmet must be replaced after a severe impact from a ball, if damage can be seen or felt, or after a hard knock or squashing. NZC's policy and the ECB's 2022 regulations both say a helmet altered against the maker's instructions, such as by removing the chin strap or chin cup or altering the neck protector, is not compliant. Our research recorded no body setting a number of years after which a cricket helmet should be replaced, so we give none. Fitting is not described here; we suggest having it shown in person.

Our picks by category