"Maybe I'm just being an overprotective mum, but his helmet's been wobbling around," Ms Sullivan said as her nine-year-old son Cooper got additional padding fitted into his helmet.

"I've been thinking about getting it fixed for around six weeks, but because of what happened with Phil Hughes I'm worried a ball might hit either side of his head."

Cricket helmet sales increased  59 per cent from the week before Hughes' death to the week after at Rebel and Amart sports stores across Australia.

People are now opting for more expensive helmets, the owner of Kingsgrove Sports Centre, Harry Solomons, has found.

"We have certainly seen an increase in people now asking for better quality helmets. We've sold a few of the better ones this week," said Mr Solomons.

"People may have looked at those [higher quality] helmets in the past and thought 'they're too expensive', but I can see now that parents are more interested in those ones."

Fourteen-year-old Nathan Simmons' father, Stephen, says: "I don't think I'd buy a cheap helmet. It's a safety thing, especially because he's playing rep."

Mr Simmons was buying the latest Masuri Vision series helmet, which supersedes the one worn by Hughes and costs $195.

"The new model has gone down a bit further and covered the back of the head a bit more but, if Hughes was wearing this, he would probably still have gotten hit," said Mr Solomons. "But you can't cover it more because you need the movement."

The cheapest helmet in Mr Solomons' store costs $45 and he sells "hundreds and hundreds" of those. But people are now looking at the more expensive varieties that can range from $90 to about $250 for specialist brands.

The main difference between the lower and higher range helmets is that the grill is now fixed.

"They've worked out where the eye-line has to be and they've put a double-piece there," said Mr Solomons. "And they've got a collapsible peak to stop the ball from going through. It's also got a double shell."

Helmets by Gray Nicolls, Kookaburra and Gunn & Moore all meet Australian Cricket Board standards, and cost  $70 to $125.

"They continue to produce good helmets and we support them because they represent a more affordable helmet for the average player," said Mr Solomons.

"When the buying season starts next year we will certainly be looking at who makes better quality helmets a lot more.

"What they might do now is look at the area where Phil Hughes was hit, and that might be improved."

Mr Solomons noted that the particular area at the back of the head "has been unprotected in the last 100 years of cricket".

"I think it was an unfortunate accident, and I think cricketers understand that," he said.

"I've been in the industry for 40 years, and bats, helmets and protective guards have never been better."