I went and did a bit of a hunt for information after talking the other day about the Albion helmet for 2009 which Andre Nel wore in the first two ODI’s against England and found a bit more info to continue the hunt for new 2009 cricket equipment!

It is called the Albion NXT, and it will eventually replace the current Albion helmet, which has been very successful and taken a good chunk of the market share (especially in Australia, Albion’s home market).

The basic idea behind the helmet is to make the most comfortable helmet based around a newly developed “articulated shell assembly”, which appears to be a cross between their standard helmet and those from companies such as Masuri.

I still think the helmet looks a bit too much like Police riot gear, but you can’t argue against improvement, especially in an area such as safety (especially of your head). I’m not sure the slightly odd looks will appeal to everyone, but then the plastic look of the previous helmet was different and we quickly got used to that.

The Albion NXT isn’t available to purchase yet (they are saying December but that could be just in Australia), but as soon as it is it will no doubt be available in all the usual online stores!