A free, open safety device for cricket

Flying bail injuries, never again.

A bail guard is a small device that tethers the bails on a cricket wicket. They still lift and fall normally, they just cannot fly. It fits the stumps you already own, costs a few dollars, and the design is published free for anyone to build.

2,582
bail dislodging dismissals
every one a moment a guard engages
491
games counted
January to August 2026
5.3
times the bails come off
in an average game, a lower bound

Used in games

These clubs and leagues chose to lead on player and umpire safety, and let the device be tested in real, competitive matches.

Labelled diagram of a bail guard fitted to a wicket, showing O-rings on the bails, a waxed polyester tether, a top stopper, the silicone collar, and a bottom stopper.

Four inexpensive parts: collar, tether, O-rings and stoppers. Retrofits on existing stumps. Nothing is drilled and nothing is modified.

Two minutes with Aashi and Anish on why a flying bail is far more dangerous than it looks, and how four cheap parts fix it.

01The problemWhy this matters

Flying bails can cause severe injuries

Bails are small, hard, and leave the stumps at speed, at head height for the people standing closest. These are not hypothetical cases.

Mark BoucherSouth Africa's wicketkeeper. In 2012 a bail flew into his left eye. He lost the lens, iris and pupil, and had to retire immediately.
Paul DowntonEngland wicketkeeper. A bail struck his eye in 1990 and partly shattered the lens. The resulting loss of depth perception ended his career.
MS DhoniWhile batting, struck near the eye by a bail against Zimbabwe in 2016, described at the time as a lucky escape.
David WarnerHit by a flying bail while fielding close in, during a Test at Galle.
Mark HowardBroadcaster, hospitalised after being struck in a freak bail incident.

7 personas are in range

Up to half the field is in the firing line. Every single ball.

WicketkeeperClosest of all
BatterTurning into the stumps
Close in fieldersSilly point, short leg
BowlerBacking up for throws
InfieldersReceiving at the stumps
Non strikerStraight drives, run outs
Straight umpireDirectly in line

Children are the most exposed

A younger player's eyeline is lower and closer to the bails, reactions are still developing, and softer tissue and bone means an impact does more damage. Most youth cricket is played without any eye protection at all.

02The LawsAlready permitted

The Laws already allow this

This is not a proposal to change cricket. In 2017 the MCC wrote a provision into the Laws specifically for devices like this one.

MCC Law 8.3.4, effective 1 October 2017
“Devices aimed at protecting player safety by limiting the distance that a bail can travel off the stumps will be allowed, subject to the approval of the Governing Body for the match and the Ground Authority.”
Laws of Cricket, 2017 Code, 3rd Edition 2022. Marylebone Cricket Club. ESPNcricinfo report

A bail guard is exactly the device that clause describes. Using one needs no law change and no special dispensation, only the agreement of your league and your ground, which the Law already anticipates.

03Open and freePublished, not patented

Published, not patented

We had something patentable and chose to publish it instead. The full design is archived on Zenodo as a defensive publication, first released in October 2025, under a Creative Commons Attribution licence. That makes it prior art, so the mechanism stays permanently free for anyone to build, sell or improve, and nobody can patent it out from under the game later.

The deeper engineering questions and alternate designs considered are answered in the supplemental technical FAQ.

Every field trial number on this page can be reproduced. The scorecard counts, the scrapers that produced them and the per match reports are all in the field trial repository on GitHub.

04Start hereA guided path, in order

Everything, in order

Two minutes gets you the idea. Ten gets you the evidence. Work down the list as far as you want to go.

1Watch the two minute videoThe fastest way to understand what a bail guard is2 min 2Support the initiativeSign the petition asking cricket's governing bodies to review it1 min 3Read the presentation for leaguesThe full case, from the injuries to the design to the trialsSlides 4See how one is set upA single printable page you can hand to a clubPDF 5Go deeper on the designAll about bail guards, the full video playlistPlaylist 6Watch it work in real matchesHighlights from competitive games, not staged testsPlaylist 7Read the open design publicationThe full disclosure on Zenodo, with a DOI. Always the latest versionZenodo 8Check the engineering answersBail mass, collar design, and the alternatives we rejectedPDF 9Audit the field trial dataEvery count, and the tools that produced them. Reproduce it yourselfGitHub 10Read the news coverageStar Local Media, Frisco EnterpriseArticle 11Make a package for your leagueHow to assemble kits in bulkPDF
12Additional reference materialEverything else, for anyone who wants the whole recordMisc
The presentation as a PDF, easier to share The full explainer video NTCA Banquet, February 2026 Our story: 250 years of the wicket, in photos Everyone who helped make this real
05The data491 games counted

How often bails come off

Every dismissal below physically dislodges the bails, the exact moment a guard is engaged. Counted from official league scorecards, not estimated.

Bail dislodging dismissals by type
491 games, 18 January to 9 August 2026, official scorecards
2,582 total

Hit wicket is 0.4% of the total, a real but very thin slice. The bar and table views show it clearly.

This is a lower bound, deliberately

These counts come only from completed dismissals on the scorecard. They do not capture the many other times the bails are dislodged:

  • Run out and stumping attempts where the batter was not out
  • A bowled or hit wicket off a no ball
  • Any other ball that hits the stumps without a wicket being given

The real number is higher. We count what can be verified from official records, and we make no claim that the device prevented any particular injury, only how often it would be engaged.

06Support itEach signature helps
QR code linking to the bail guard petition

Help get this in front of the game

We are asking cricket's governing bodies to review the bail guard, and local leagues to try it. Support this initiative.

Support this initiative Share on WhatsApp

Share it with the cricket lovers you know. Most people have no idea this is a solved problem.