Canterbury bowler Andrew Ellis was struck in the head by a shot from Jeet Raval of Auckland last season. The shot skied off his head and over the boundary line for a six. While Ellis was fine after the blow, it did raise concerns.
Ellis has answered those concerns by now wearing a baseball style helmet to protect his head from possible future blows. The 37-year-old wore the helmet in a match between Canterbury and Northern Districts in the Ford Trophy on Wednesday, 27 November. Canterbury won by one run as Ellis picked up one wicket.
Ellis has played 15 ODIs and 5 T20Is for New Zealand internationally. He picked up 14 wickets across his 20 international games.
“For guys like me who tend to bowl at the death and try to bowl yorkers, it’s probably a prudent move. It’s better to try and be a little innovative here, and be the world leader around this issue.”Andrew Ellis
Incidentally, the same match Ellis was hit by Raval on the head, he came back to dismiss Raval. Raval had amassed 149 runs by that point.
Otago paceman Warren Barnes was the first bowler to don a helmet while bowling back in December 2017.
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