TEST great Michael Clarke has encouraged players to embrace neck-guard technology in helmets.

But Clarke warned that from personal experience, the transition in the final series of his Test career to wearing extra protection at the back of his head was a mentally challenging experience — because it reminded him of his close mate Phillip Hughes.

An independent report handed down into Hughes’ passing was somewhat vague when it came to the neck guards still worn only by a limited number of Australian players.

media_camera Australia captain Steve Smith plays with a neck guard.

It said the technology is yet to be properly “evaluated for efficiency and safety” and could not yet recommend they be made mandatory.

A modern helmet with a neck guard would not have saved Hughes life, the report found.

However, the report did say that the genuine belief some players like Clarke have in the effectiveness of the neck-guard technology should carry great weight when authorities consider whether to make them compulsory.

Clarke is adamant that he never felt more protected on a cricket field than when wearing the neck guards.

“Anything we can do to help make our game safer is a great thing and is an important thing,” Clarke told The Daily Telegraph.

“The helmet that I wore that last series of my career, you can feel the difference with that compared to the one I used to wear.

media_camera Clarke believes players should take measures to protect themselves.

“It definitely feels a lot safer, especially with the neck protection. You can notice you’re wearing a helmet now, where as you never used to be able to. Helmets were so light, they were as comfortable as a cap, as my baggy green.

“Whereas now you notice that you’ve got a helmet on.”

Clarke admits “noticing” his helmet for the first time came with its challenges, and not just for comfort reasons as England captain Alastair Cook has complained about in recent times.

Clarke has conceded before that the emotional build-up of Hughes’ death ultimately contributed to his Test retirement and that adjusting to wearing the new-style helmets and neck guards was initially haunting.

“It’s hard for me to talk about, because I didn’t like it at all because every time I put the helmet on, although I was being told it would protect me better, it made me think about my helmet,” he said.

“It made me relive what happened to my mate.

“Every single time I put that helmet on, for the first time in my career, I could feel I was wearing a helmet. It probably wasn’t a good thing for me to be honest, because every time I put it on I thought about the reason why the helmet law had changed.”

media_camera Clarke says the change takes getting used to but is important.

Still to this point, very few Australian cricketers have taken to wearing the neck-guard attachments on their helmets in international matches.

It took Clarke some time to come around to the idea himself, making the change after seeing teammate Chris Rogers cop a nasty blow batting before him during the last Ashes series.

But while the report said it was not yet able to recommend the neck guards become compulsory without further research, it did stress that the area behind the head remains a vulnerability not yet solved by helmet manufacturers.

The report introduced a number of new safety guidelines, including the mandatory wearing of helmets for all batsmen, wicketkeepers and close-in fielders when facing fast-medium bowling.

The same goes for batsmen practising in the nets, with coaching staff in close proximity to the bat at training also now required to wear helmets.