This safety proposal is authored and led by student cricketers Anish Anup (16) and Aashi Anup (12). Cricket is played by children, youth, and adults across the world. While many aspects of player safety have evolved, flying bails remain an overlooked and avoidable hazard. When a ball strikes the stumps, bails can travel at high speed toward players, umpires, or nearby fielders. There have been documented cases where such incidents caused serious eye, face, and dental injuries, some with long-term consequences. A simple bail-guard concept has been explored and demonstrated in controlled practice settings to reduce excessive bail travel while still allowing bails to dislodge normally, preserving the laws and spirit of the game. The approach is designed to retrofit onto existing stumps without drilling or permanent modification. The concept has been documented publicly and released openly as a non-proprietary, non-patented disclosure, to encourage review, discussion, and improvement by the wider cricket community. Anyone is free to study, use, adapt, or improve upon the concept without restriction. We respectfully ask: The ICC and relevant authorities to review bail-guard concepts as a potential safety consideration Academies, clubs, and tournament organizers to voluntarily evaluate similar safety approaches, especially for youth cricket The cricket community to support thoughtful safety improvements that do not alter how the game is played Cricket has always evolved to better protect its participants. This is a small step that could help prevent avoidable, life-changing injuries. Thank you for your support.
Anish Anup & Aashi Anup
Student Cricketers Additional material: Short 2-min video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzF2togtwVc Explainer video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeISNg5_usY Open technical documentation (Creative Commons): https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18043789