An Australian umpire says big bats have made the game so dangerous that umpires need to wear helmets - and he claims powerful West Indian batting star Chris Gayle agrees.
Sydney-based Karl Wentzel believes the ICC must address the need for umpires to wear protective gear to prevent fatalities.
Wentzel is known as the "umpire who wears a helmet" according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Wentzel donned a lid after he lost five teeth and was knocked out when a ball smacked him in the mouth in 2001. Medical repairs cost him nearly $50,000.
An Israeli umpire Hillel Oscar - a former national captain - died late last year when a ball cannoned off the stumps and hit his neck. An umpire died in Wales five years ago after a throw by a fielder hit him on the head.
"The bats are so much stronger today and batsmen are hitting the ball heavier," Wentzel said.
"You operate on instinct but you certainly feel so much more confident wearing a helmet.
"Chris Gayle said he was pleased to see me wearing it because he dreads the day when an umpire is hit straight on the head by a ball because it will kill him."
Wentzel reportedly wore a helmet at a game at Lords - the London ground often referred to as the home of cricket - in June.