Two of Australia's leading wicketkeepers are fighting with authorities to be able to use a specialised helmet when standing up to the stumps.
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Australian one-day international gloveman Matthew Wade is seeking to wear a special helmet supplied by global manufacturer Shrey - the only company that produces a custom-made helmet for wicketkeeping.
The wicketkeeping helmet features a special grill, and is shorter at the back to enhance comfort for keepers while they bend down.
Australian women's team wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy also wants to wear the specialist helmet.
Under new guidelines, all batting helmets used in Cricket Australia-sanctioned competitions must be approved for use pursuant to the standards set by the British Standards Institute.
The problem for Wade, a former Test gloveman and current Victorian captain, and Healy, is that the International Cricket Council does not have any standards laid out for helmets specifically for use by wicketkeepers. Shrey is not seeking to have the helmet approved by the ICC because the company does not want batsmen wearing it.
The company claims that of all its helmets - batting and wicketkeeping - have been tested to ensure they can withstand the impact of a collision.
As it stands, CA does not compel wicketkeepers to wear a helmet, but if a player chooses to wear one, it has to be a batting helmet, because they are the only ones approved. Other boards have interpreted the ICC rules differently, meaning keepers such as Pakistan's Sarfraz Ahmed and England's Jos Buttler continue to wear the helmet in international play.
Wade had been allowed to wear the special helmet up until the new mandate was imposed by CA this summer, donning it as recently as last month's one-day series in England.
CA is aware of Wade and Healy's angst, and is working with the manufacturers, the Australian Cricketers' Association and players involved to address the issue.
A review into Phil Hughes' tragic death by barrister David Curtain, expected to be released soon, could also provide a recommendation as to what wicketkeepers will be allowed to wear.
While mindful of comfort issues, authorities want to ensure there are no concerns about eye protection, so glovemen can avoid a repeat of the serious eye injury to South African Mark Boucher that forced his retirement in 2013. Boucher's eye was punctured after a bail rebounded into his eye.
Australian Twenty20 captain Aaron Finch praised the tougher standards required for helmets since Hughes' death, almost a year ago, but said it was bemusing that Wade, his Victorian teammate, was unable to wear a specialised helmet.
"I think it's good that there is an industry standard as such. You have to look out for players' safety. Now that that is in place, that's great. But the one thing I can't understand is, I know Matty Wade has a helmet that has a little bit of a shorter peak at the front for wicketkeeping but if he wears that in a game, he will get a two-game suspension," Finch said.
"I don't understand how you can say it's safer for a guy to not wear a helmet at all, than to wear a helmet. That's wrong.
"For a guy to be keeping up to the stumps for spin or the quicks without a helmet, as opposed to a helmet that doesn't meet a standard because he has had it modified so he can see out of it pretty much ... I can't understand how not wearing a helmet is safer.
"I know Alyssa Healy is having issues as well."
Wade is among a number of Australian professionals who wear one of the company's batting helmets while at the crease - with Test hopeful Joe Burns another.
Fellow manufacturer Masuri has a contractual arrangement with CA, which means that Shrey and other manufacturers have had to sign separate agreements with CA in order for their helmets to be used. Players who seek to wear a non-Masuri helmet must also seek approval from CA, but this is generally a straightforward process.
