How safe are helmets?

The Telegraph's Simon Hughes writes about the Loughborough University's scientific study on helmets.

In a project financed in part by the government, in part by the ECB, Loughborough's sports technology institute - an organisation that works with sporting bodies and manufacturers to produce cutting edge equipment - has been subjecting various helmets and gloves to a severe assault. In a transparent box a typical betting helmet is positioned on the head of a mannequin which is screwed onto a steel post. Balls are fired at the helmet from close range using a bowling machine.

The speed is about 65mph, similar to that of James Anderson bouncer once it has reached the batsman. The process is recorded by cameras filming at 10,000 frames per second. Once slowed down the images are similar to those ads featuring crash-test dummies. A similar process is used to test a glove on the hand of a prosthetic arm.