Chronic SHD is irreparable but the other variants are treatable with hearing devices that come with optional extras.

SHD or Selective Hearing Disorder is a medical condition caused by defective neural connectivity between the reactive nodes in the brain and the ears. In Grades cricket, it has been a contributory factor in many ill-tempered games and although batsmen with the condition suffer only minor irritation, those around him are subject to a wide range of emotional torment.

Many of those afflicted are, in fact, unaware of the true nature of their condition. Tests carried out on SHD patients revealed that most believe their inability to hear contact, between their bat and the ball, to be psychosomatic and many scientists are now beginning to share this belief. However, in the case of chronic SHD, the neural pathways, between brain and ears, are irreparably damaged. Fortunately, chronic cases of SHD are few and far between, in the Grades, and limited to a handful of top order batsmen.

Types of SHD

• Chronic SHD is the most serious but only affects top order batsmen. No connectivity between ears and brain.
• Involuntary SHD can affect a batsman of any ability and is triggered by tension arising from highly charged match situations. Most neural pathways are intact but can "short circuit" momentarily.
• Mild SHD is self induced by a batsman in response to some previous stimuli such as contact with an opposition SHD sufferer or verbal abuse from surrounding fielders. A desire to negate a previous wrong decision or even the score, may also trigger the condition

Range of sufferers

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
	Openers	Middle order	Rabbits

Of all the Grades cricketers affected by (any variant form of) SHD, the overwhelming majority belong in the opening batsman class, as the graph above clearly demonstrates.

Although there are a few cases of SHD (Mild or Involuntary) amongst so-called "Rabbits", they amount to less than 0.2% of all Grades batsmen affected. Most rabbits either expect to be dismissed easily, or are technically unable to manufacture an edge.