I haven't always got on with batting helmets. I've been using them for over half my life, but have never, ever had one that felt just right.

My large, misshapen head and OCD levels of kit fussiness have together conspired to leave protecting my second most important body part a constant problem.

I'm like Goldilocks, if Goldilocks had been a Teflon-gloved wicketkeeper and deeply ponderous right-hander rather than a fictitious bear-botherer. This helmet is too heavy, this helmet is too small, this helmet makes my head itch, this grille is too intrusive, this chinstrap gets on my tits. And so on and so on. Never had I found my perfect-temperature porridge, my ideal-mattressed bed.

My first helmet was a Gray-Nicolls job that perched ludicrously atop my bonce and left me looking like Robert Key. Seldom did a match pass without some comment.

Halfway through its first season it was abandoned and I went back to batting in a cap. Playing a reverse fixture against a team I'd bored to tears with several overs of pointless crease occupation earlier in the season, I'd reached a scratchy double-figure effort when a fielder piped up: "Didn't you wear a lid last time? It made you look like a f***in' div." It was hard to argue.

I was out soon after. Two weeks later, I top-edged a ball into my face, dislocating my jaw and splitting my lip. As I trudged off the field in agony, I had to accept that I probably once again looked like a bit of a div.

My love-hate relationship with the batting helmet was born. I've batted in a lid ever since, and have tried several. Hunts County, Albion, Masuri...

The large, adjustable, stylish Masuri was easily the best of a bad crop and that's what I've used for the last 10 years, even though it always leaves me with a great big red mark on my forehead if by some miracle I bat for longer than 10 minutes.

And on a hot day or in stifling indoor nets I'm left sweating like a Pakistani at an IPL auction before even taking guard.

But anyway. All this is my excruciatingly long-winded way to ensure you realise the significance of the following statement.

The Ayrtek helmet is perfect. Absolutely perfect. It's porridge at the right temperature, a bed that's neither too hard nor too soft. I've tried and tried, but I can't find a single fault with anything about it.

The first and most crucial thing is that the key gimmick actually works. Ayrtek's sleek, startlingly modern-looking helmet hides an innovative inner lining. They call it the ACIS (Air Cushion Impact System). To put it in insultingly simplistic layman's terms, they've put an airbed in a batting helmet. Which works far better than that sounds.

The interlinked air chambers that can be easily inflated or deflated via the nubbins on the back of the helmet do two things. First, they ensure a perfect fit (and if it can do that for my freak show exhibit of a cranium, then surely it can work for anyone's). Second and most important it helps provide an unparallelled level of protection, with the personalised custom fit of the air chambers ensuring the helmet is in more constant contact with the head and thus reducing the ear-ringing rattle and secondary impacts that are par for the course with traditional helmets.

The aerodynamic design and modern materials of the outer shell are certainly eye-catching, but they are not just for show.

The helmet is lighter than any of its competitors and the prominent raised central fin adds strength and stiffness to the middle of the helmet.

The Ayrtek also boasts a reassuringly thick peak - an area of frankly terrifying eye-socket-threatening weakness on most lids - without impacting a batsman or keeper's line of vision.

The helmet is fully BSI-tested, and is significantly stronger and lighter than its rivals.

The three-wire grille, available in steel and even lighter titanium versions, isn't anything you haven't seen before, but it does the job perfectly and unobtrusively while the adjustable chin strap with four-point fixing to the lid feels more secure than any other I've used. Which only adds to the overall feeling of comfort, stability, safety and security.

Ayrtek helmets are already used by one of the world's best - Kumar Sangakkara - as well as a smattering of county players.

It seems certain that more top players will follow as word of mouth spreads. And the ACIS principle could surely be transferred to any number of other sports and recreational pursuits where head protection is required, from cycling to mountaineering to American football. Ayrtek's simple, accurate slogan sums it up: safer, stronger, lighter. What's not to like?

Ayrtek are constantly striving to improve their already class-leading product, and have taken another 30g off the helmet and 25g off the titanium grille since sending out our review version, taking the overall weight down to just 602g (compared to 681g for Masuri and 686g for Albion).

Even after a long indoor net session, the usual buckets of sweat and reddened face were nowhere to be seen. I even managed to middle a couple, which can surely only be down to being able to see clearly rather than peering through beads of sweat.

If you're still not convinced, and are a bit of a dandy, the Ayrtek bods will even personalise the helmet with your initials, club crest and colourway for a small extra fee.

But even if that's not for you, the helmet really should be. It's quite simply better than any of its rivals in every single way, and at a competitive pricepoint for a small company. If you're looking for a new helmet this season, use your head - protect it with Ayrtek.

Ayrtek batting helmets priced from £65-£99 (£79-£99 for ACIS versions) are available, along with a full range of cricket equipment, from www.ayrtek.com

Dave Tickner