Rethinking Flying Bails

A Safety Proposal for Cricket with A 'Bail Guard’

February 2026

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Anish Anup

11^th Grade,

Liberty High School

Frisco, TX

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Aashi Anup

7^th Grade,

Vandeventer Middle School

Frisco, TX

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We would like to thank…

• All Stars Frisco Cricket Academy

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• Grand Prairie Cricket Club (GPCC)

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• Mr. Kuljit Singh Nijjar

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• Umpires and players in games using this safety device

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• Cricketing community, friends, family and well wishers

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For their tireless efforts in championing this safety initiative!

Do bails really have to fly this far?

South Africa in England 2012: Eye injury ends Mark Boucher's career | ESPNcricinfo

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Do bails really have to fly this far?

Paul Downton Profile - Cricket Player England | Stats, Records, Video

Do bails really have to fly this far?

(15) Facebook

Mahendra Singh Dhoni lucky to survive freak accident against Zimbabwe - India Today

Do bails really have to fly this far?

YouTube video

Sri Lanka vs Australia Galle Test: Flying Bail Hits David Warner In The Crotch After SL Batter Is Bowled | Cricket News

Do bails really have to fly this far?

YouTube video of injury

Fox Sports presenter Mark Howard suffers scare after being rushed to hospital following freak injury | Sky News Australia

Do bails really have to fly this far?

• 1000s of undocumented injuries!

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• Kids especially vulnerable!
• Lower eyeline, closer to bails
• Reactions still developing
• Softer tissues, bones – more damage on impact

Do bails really have to fly this far?

• Flying bails can affect 7 personas during a game!

• 5 to 7 out of 15 people consistently within bail-danger on every delivery! i.e., 33 – 50% of people!
• One bad moment, a lifetime of consequence!

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MCC Law 8.3.4 – A giant step towards safety

• Law introduced in 2017. Effective Oct 1^st, 2017

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• Source: About the Laws of Cricket | MCC

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• 2017 Code 3^rd Edition 2022 text

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• 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.

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Introducing a safety device

• Commonly known as a ‘bail guard’

Bail Guard

Collar

Flexible silicone, automotive grade

Stopper

Standard slip-joint washer

Tether

1.5 mm waxed polyester

• Simple materials

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• Inexpensive

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• Available in local stores

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• Lot of variants possible with design
• E.g., no O-ring, bail tied to thread directly
• Additional resting stopper
• for collar to rest on Vs being suspended

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• Easy to install

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See it in action

Watch video

Field trials: YouTube playlist of usage highlights in real games

How to install

Benefits of this design

1. Inexpensive
2. Works on millions of existing stumps with no change required
3. Durable (to weather conditions)
4. Easy to set up (under 1 minute, even by kids)
5. Shareable, not fixed to stumps
6. Easy to make/manufacture
7. Doesn’t interfere with game functionality
8. Safe on its own. E.g., no sharp parts
9. Works for everyone (batter, bowler, keeper, fielder, umpire) versus alternative like helmets
10. Robustness (forgiving by design)
• E.g., thread lengths, height of stopper from top of stump can all be approximate

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Alternate designs

• Drilling a hole on middle stump
• Passing thread through it and tying both bails
• Thread length must be carefully chosen
• If too long, can sway with wind
• Swaying thread can contact wicket keeper’s gloves or bat, affecting game play
• If thread is cut, it is seldom replaced
• If replaced too, it may not follow thread length guidelines

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• Screw a hook or eye-bolt on stumps
• Threads attach to this and are tied to both bails
• Again, thread length must be carefully chosen
• A variant, which is directly tying bails to stumps has similar concern of thread length

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• Using a helmet and safety glasses
• Not practical for all (e.g., bowler, fielder)
• Players (especially kids) can forget to wear these protective devices
• With helmets and safety glasses too, bails can still sneak in and hurt face, teeth
• Safety glasses won’t work well in rain

Alternate designs – A comparison

FAQs

• Will this extra collar and thread mass make the bail harder to dislodge?
• Technically, yes
• Overall collar + thread mass ~12 g
• So, 6 g additional mass per bail
• Commercial bails range: 9 – 27 g
• So, 6 g extra is well within bail mass range

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• MCC Laws specify no mass requirement for bails. Only dimensions.

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• LED (Zing) bail mass significantly higher than wooden bail
• Watch video by Adam Gilchrist and Mark Howard comparing 8 g vs 27 g

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• Article in Daily Mail UK mentioning bail masses

• In bail guard, we considered an additional ‘resting stopper’ design
• A stopper below collar like stopper above collar
• Collar rests on it with tether having no slack (to prevent sway due to wind)
• No weight on bails
• Supplemental Technical FAQ (in publication) discusses this design in depth

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Vision – “Flying bail injuries - never again”

• To realize this, we need help from leaders of the cricket community:

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• Encourage use in local leagues, tournaments

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• Spread the word to other cities, countries

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• Encourage companies interested to manufacture

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• Plea to ICC – consider a bail guard at highest level. Awareness increases globally

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• Support this petition: Request for Review of a 'Bail Guard' Safety Mechanism in Cricket

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• Bail guard is an open, patent-free design. Anyone can build it, improve it!

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References

• YouTube explainer video
• Open design and defensive publication (v3): https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18043789
• Supplemental Technical FAQ – discusses alternate designs, bail mass and collar design
• Field trials: YouTube playlist of usage highlights in real games
• Field trial results: https://github.com/anishanup/cricket-bail-safety-trial-tools
• Change.org petition: Request for Review of a 'Bail Guard' Safety Mechanism in Cricket

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Thank You!