Brad Hodge has floated the idea of safety nets at Big Bash League games as calls come for Cricket Australia to consider if enough is being done to protect spectators from balls routinely flying into the stands.
The former Test batsman-turned T20 journeyman raised the suggestion on Thursday as one lawyer feared it would take a serious accident at a Big Bash League game to prompt change.
Adelaide Strikers captain Travis Head hit a young boy at a BBL game last week, while WBBL star Elysse Perry halted the game to check on a boy after a similar incident earlier this summer.
CA warn fans at the game of the potential hazards by using sirens, announcements and big screen notices, while "collision with a cricket ball" is one of the risks accepted when buying a ticket.
But Shine Lawyers special counsel Josh Aylward points to other venues to show there is plenty more that could be done to protect Australian cricket fans.
"Motor racing has barriers, baseball and NFL have big nets, ice hockey has walls and even Indian cricket fields have 15-foot cages around them, but in Australian stadiums there is nothing preventing it," he said.
"The occupiers of these venues must take all reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable risk of injury from occurring.
"The question would be, is CA and the BBL doing enough ... sixes are obviously encouraged and a cricket ball is going to do some serious damage."
Hodge, now playing for the Melbourne Renegades, agreed netting was a possible solution but it also had the potential to ruin the spectacle.
"There's a ball being projected into the crowd five or six times in an innings," he said.
"I've seen some things happen in the IPL where some children have been hurt ... it's concerning.
"Maybe some netting might be an option ... but you don't want to disengage the crowd either.
"Hopefully the parents are there trying to take speckies over the kids to try and look after them."
The suggestion comes as players consider their own safety, with fast bowler Warren Barnes wearing protective headgear while bowling for Otago in New Zealand domestic cricket last weekend.
And Sydney Thunder batsman Ben Rohrer is nursing a bruised collarbone after some friendly fire from teammate Callum Ferguson at the Gabba on Wednesday.
Ferguson's bullet-like straight drive narrowly missed Rohrer's windpipe and kept him off the field for the Brisbane Heat's run chase, although he is hopeful of returning for the Thunder's next game on Saturday.
