Nick Compton has "hit out at the England and Wales Cricket Board for what he feels is an over-zealous approach to health and safety after the introduction of new helmet regulations," according to Richard Amofa of the London TELEGRAPH. It follows England captain Alastair Cook "refusing to wear a helmet that meets the new safety regulations" during Essex’s County Championship match with Gloucestershire last week. That "prompted talks between the board and England captain with the ECB now confident he will wear one of the new style helmets when Essex play Sussex on Sunday." In December, the ECB passed new regulations regarding the safety standard of helmets "stating that all must have a fixed grille." It follows players being injured by balls "passing between the grille and the peak of the helmet." The new regulations also "mean wicketkeepers will have to wear helmets when standing up to the stumps even when keeping to spin bowlers." Compton’s criticism will "embarrass the ECB further given that he was such a close friend of Phil Hughes, the Australian batsman killed when a short ball struck him below the ear." Compton said, "For me there are so many rules and regulations now. Health and safety and all these regulations -- they do my head in. ... Sport should be about going out there and expressing yourself, but it seems that everything around you is everything but. It's so conforming and restricting and I just hope that we don't take away from natural game" (TELEGRAPH, 4/15).
