Shields up as umpire safety goes to next level

Australian Bruce Oxenford has broken new ground in umpire safety after he used a protective shield for the first time in an international match during England's record-breaking one-day victory against Sri Lanka at Edgbaston.

The 56-year-old Australian's left forearm was clad in the protective device, looking somewhat like a slimmed down version of a police riot shield, as he stood in the second ODI that England won by 10 wickets.

Oxenford had previously worn the guard during an Indian Premier League match between Gujarat Lions and Royal Challengers Bangalore in April and before that in a World Twenty20 warm-up match involving Australia and the West Indies.

But Friday's match was the first time the equipment had been seen in a full international.

Traditionally, umpire protection has amounted to no more than a hat or a cap.

But there have been increasing concerns regarding the safety of officials, particularly in the case of an umpire standing at the bowler's end, with more and more batsmen in the modern era capable of ferocious hitting.

Those concerns intensified after an Israeli umpire was killed in a club match in November 2014 after the ball ricocheted off the stumps and hit him in the head. That incident came at a particularly sensitive time for cricket, just two days after the death of Phillip Hughes who had been struck while batting in a Sheffield Shield game.

It prompted Cricket Australia's National Selection Panel chairman Rod Marsh to express his concern for umpire safety last September when delivering the annual MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture.

Marsh said changing the front-foot no-ball rule and improved umpire protection equipment needed to be considered.

"It's only a matter of time before an umpire in an international or first-class match is seriously hurt, if not killed," Marsh said.

"If I happened to be umpiring right now I’d be wearing a baseball catchers helmet, a chest pad and shin guards."

A head injury to Australian umpire John Ward while officiating in India has prompted Australian officials to take the lead in introducing protective equipment for officials.

Ward was struck in the head in the 48th over of a Ranji Trophy match from a full-blooded drive by a Punjab batsman Barinder Sran, who is now a regular in India's limited-overs teams.

The umpire, who was in India as part of an umpire exchange program between Australia, India and South Africa, was hospitalised but cleared of any lasting injury.

The injury to Ward incident prompted his Australian official Gerard Abood to become the first official to wear a helmet in a match when he donned the protective headwear in the KFC Big Bash League.

Ward returned to officiating in the Big Bash, also opting to wear a helmet.

He then became the first umpire to wear a helmet in an international match during the fourth ODI between Australia and India in Canberra.

An ECB spokesman said today that if a batsman's shot deflected off Oxenford's shield and was then caught by a fielder, the batsman would be given out.

By contrast, the Laws of Cricket make it clear that if a ball hits the helmet of a fielder before being held, the batsman is not out and dead ball is called.