Former Aust opener Cowan struck on head

Former Test opener Ed Cowan will play no more part in NSW's Sheffield Shield match against WA in New Zealand after being struck on the head by a bouncer.

Adam Voges

Adam Voges is unbeated on 93 at lunch on the third day of WA's Sheffield Shield clash with NSW. (AAP)

Former Test batsman Ed Cowan has been forced to retire after being struck in the head late on day three of NSW's Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia in New Zealand.

Cowan had scored only two runs on Friday when a Joel Paris bouncer hit him flush on the front of the helmet, and he took a few minutes to regather before team officials advised him to leave the field.

Cricket Australia later announced Cowan would not play the remainder of the game.

"As per the Cricket Australia concussion guidelines, he was assessed on the spot by the Cricket NSW doctor and retired from the game hurt.

"Advice from the doctor is that Ed's health is in a reasonable state but, per the Cricket Australia concussion guidelines, he will be observed for the next 24 hours as a precautionary measure and not take further part in the match."

Test offspinner Nathan Lyon later described the incident as "nasty".

"It was pretty nasty. The medical staff will look after him and survey him overnight and hopefully he's all good ..." he said.

NSW batsmen Kurtis Patterson (5no) and nightwatchman Lyon (0no) took the offer of bad light in the next over with NSW on 1-11, still trailing the Warriors by 78 runs.

Test batsman Adam Voges had earlier carried his strong Australian summer form to New Zealand, compiling an impressive 149, including 15 boundaries.

Partnerships with Hilton Cartwright (36) and Sam Whiteman (93) helped WA surpass NSW's first-innings mark of 402 by tea, before Nathan Rimmington's quick-fire 48 gave them the 89-run lead.

Resuming on Friday on 58, Voges survived an appeal for a catch in close from a Lyon delivery in the first session, before reaching his century off 218 balls by hooking Doug Bollinger to the boundary.

He was then run out by Ben Rohrer just shy of the 150-milestone.

The Test No.5 is averaging 85.66 in Test cricket, and his knock means he has struck 829 runs in his most-recent 10 innings at an average of 138.

Voges said it was the perfect preparation ahead of the two-Test series against the Black Caps starting next week.

"You can't replicate time in the middle so, from that point of view, it's great," he said.

"More importantly, it's got us into a good position in this game. Hopefully, we can win and get six points. From that point of view, I'm pretty happy."

Lyon finished with 3-146 off 45.5 overs, while former Test duo Bollinger and Trent Copeland, playing his first match in 18 months, also bagged three each.

Lyon said he couldn't foresee playing on a similar slow pitch against New Zealand.

"It was a hard toil, especially when you're bowling to a world-player batter in Adam Voges. It was a good challenge for us. There's not much life on this pitch but I can't see a Test match pitch being this slow," said Lyon.

NSW captain Nic Maddinson will be assessed on Saturday morning after suffering a thumb injury while fielding.


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Source: AAP



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