GETTING hit where it hurts was driving Faf Du Plessis, well, nuts.

So the South African number three batsman has built his own supersized, triple strength hector protector, named The Beast.

In a self deprecating tour diary released on the Proteas official site, Du Plessis explains how that special kind of agony became the mother of invention.

“For those who don't know I’m one of the guys who get hit in the nuts probably the most in the world,” Du Plessis says.

media_camera Faf du Plessis gets treatment after being struck in the groin. It happens to him way too much.

“For those who do know, it’s a very, very painful thing to go through.”

Du Plessis says he started out with a two-box model but it wasn’t completely effective, so moved to a three box version.

“It’s helped me a lot,” he says. “The first 56,000 times I got hit with two boxes it was too painful. Three now is perfect for me — it works. I’ve probably been hit in the nuts five times since I built The Beast and I’m pain free.”