"We currently make helmets for batters and a whole range of protective equipment, our helmets are now being adopted by international players. So if this was a path the MCC were advising we'd be happy to work with them, understand what is needed and see how we can help," he said.

"Our role in cricket is to evolve with what the game needs and innovate accordingly, whether the game needs it is a debate the MCC, the ICC and the players themselves can have."

As noted by the MCC, Nottinghamshire fast bowler Luke Fletcher was felled and concussed by a sickening blow during England’s domestic Twenty20 competition last year. He was struck on the head in his follow by a powerful drive back down the ground, prompting him to later reveal: "It is probably a good thing I did not lift my head up, it could've been a lot worse. I got away with it and the doctors said I dodged a bullet."

Australian paceman Joe Mennie has twice been hit while bowling. He was the first player this year in England's County Championship to be substituted out of a match because of concussion, having been hit in the head during his follow-through while bowling for Lancashire. This came after he was left with a fractured skull and minor brain bleeding in January last year, having been hit in the head while bowling in the nets at the Gabba ahead of a Big Bash League semi-final.

While safety features for batsmen, fielders close to the bat and even umpires, the latter with face masks and shields, have intensified, there has been little thought given to bowlers.