Players shaken by Morgan head injury

Mitchell Starc was left shaken after his bouncer inflicted a fierce blow on Eoin Morgan's helmet, which forced the England captain to retire hurt and left him unable to play any further part in the deciding ODI at Old Trafford.

Starc was the only Australia player in this match who was involved at the SCG the day Phillip Hughes was struck and the emotional impact of the event still runs deep. At the end of Starc's fourth over, which included the bouncer, Darren Lehmann walked around the boundary to speak to him while Steven Smith said others in the team had also been affected by the moment.

"There were a couple of guys who were a bit shaken up, Starc in particular," Smith said. "Obviously it was a tough summer for us back home, losing a close mate, and it's always nasty when you get a glance like that. There were a few guys shaken up and hopefully Eoin is okay.

"I don't think anyone ever means to do anything like that, it's part of the game bowling bouncers, so you have to get back on the ship as quickly as possible. You still have a job to do out in the middle and you have to take it out of your mind as quickly as possible but you never like seeing anyone get hit like that for sure."

Morgan turned his head away from a bouncer - clocked at just over 90mph - in the seventh over and was struck flush on the side of the helmet.

He managed to stay on his feet but signals were quickly made for assistance with both the England physio and doctor coming to assess him and, after a few minutes of discussion, he walked off the field.

After a lengthy period of assessment from the England medical team, it was confirmed that Morgan was being treated for concussion and would neither resume his innings nor take the field in Australia's reply.

Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, who was in charge of New South Wales when Hughes died, said Morgan had been dizzy after the blow but that by the end of the match he was up and about in the dressing room, although he will continue to monitored for the effects of concussion.

"He's alright, he's got a bit of a lump on his head and a bit of a headache but he's up and about now having a chat," Bayliss said. "When anyone gets hit it's an anxious moment but he walked off the field which I think is a good sign. He was a bit dizzy for a while, it took an hour or so for him to come good but the medical staff will keep a close eye on him."

It was not the first time Morgan had been troubled by the short ball in this series. He took blows on the gloves at both Lord's and the previous match at Old Trafford. After the match at Lord's, Morgan upgraded his helmet to include the new flaps which cover the neck area that have been introduced in the wake of Hughes' death last year.

Bayliss said Morgan may need to make some adjustments when playing the short delivery. "We probably have to look at it, see if there is anything technically he can do. I haven't actually sat down and had a close look at it but sure it's something we'll look at going forward."

Morgan finished as the leading batsman in the series with 278 runs at 69.50. His next duties with England will come in November when he leads the one-day side against Pakistan. Despite being a limited-overs only player, he is expected to be handed a central contract when the new batch are confirmed later this month in recognition of the importance white-ball cricket now takes. Interestingly, though, and despite his pedigree as a limited-overs coach, Bayliss admitted he remains very loyal to the Test format.

"One of the focuses, supposedly, here in England is on one-day cricket but the focus is obviously Test cricket as well," he said. "From my point of view I'm a bit old school and Test cricket to me is the most important."