Ferguson blow was scary: NSW's Lyon

When Callum Ferguson was struck in the head and a piece of his helmet flew off, NSW spinner Nathan Lyon found it scary.

But Ferguson himself says it appeared more dramatic than it really was.

The South Australia batsman was hit by a searing bouncer from NSW quick Mitchell Starc in the Sheffield Shield match at Adelaide Oval on Friday.

The incident instantly recalled memories of the fatal blow to Phillip Hughes in a Shield match between the states last year.

Like the Hughes incident, NSW's David Warner was first at the scene to check on the batsman.

The rest of the NSW team rapidly followed but Ferguson, despite being momentarily stunned, kept his feet and wasn't injured.

"It was a little bit scary there," Lyon said.

"But credit to all the boys, we got around, made sure he's alright."

Ferguson was wearing a helmet with a protective attachment covering behind the ear and lower skull, which became available after Hughes' death.

The plastic and foam attachment was knocked off by the impact, but Ferguson said the ball struck him on the helmet proper.

"From what I have heard they are the strong part of the helmet, the clip-on wings, but they just flew off," Ferguson said.

"It probably looked more dramatic than it was."

Ferguson , who was on six at the time but batted on for a stoic 96 in a heavy loss to the Blues, appreciated the instinctive caring response from his NSW opponents.

"We have obviously seen a few bad ones between our sides so they (NSW players) were really good," he said.

"You get all the right checks and what-not from the doctor, I was feeling alright after that, no problems whatsoever."