London: Wicketkeeper-batsman Craig Kieswetter's career could be over as a result of the eye injury he suffered in July, Somerset's director of cricket Matthew Maynard said on Monday.
The England player damaged his eye socket when a ball smashed through his helmet grill, breaking his nose and injuring his cheekbone while batting against Northamptonshire.
Apparently chicks dig scars...?! #rocky pic.twitter.com/DcGBhp5unN
— Craig Kieswetter (@kiesy_22) July 13, 2014Gutted I'm missing tonight's match with the lads-but I'm there in spirit #wearesomerset @SkyCricket @NatWestT20Blast pic.twitter.com/KBKQ3PKxxm
— Craig Kieswetter (@kiesy_22) July 16, 2014Operation went well - little bit more damage than expected. The road to recovery starts now! #patience #work pic.twitter.com/4f2Hn4CVbi
— Craig Kieswetter (@kiesy_22) July 20, 2014
(Photo: Twitter)
The 27-year-old, who has already been ruled out of the 2015 county season, is due to undergo further assessment with a specialist in Belgium this week. "We're hoping that after he sees the specialist he'll have a method of getting his eye back to 100 per cent," Maynard told the BBC.
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"The feedback we get from that will be quite instrumental but potentially it could be career-ending," Maynard added.
South Africa-born Kieswetter returned to non-international action in September after undergoing facial surgery. While playing for the Warriors in a domestic Twenty20 competition in South Africa, he realised his vision was still impaired.
"He came back for a couple of games and although he knew the eye wasn't quite right, he was just delighted to be back playing at that stage. Then he went out to play in South Africa in the Twenty20 and he struggled. He was struggling to pick up the line and length of the ball. If you can't do that, it's going to be hard to score runs and it also makes you very vulnerable," Maynard said.
Kieswetter, who has played 46 ODIs and has an average of 30.11 was included in England's initial 30-man squad for next month's World Cup but later replaced by Sam Billings.
Watch how Kieswetter sustained a horrible eye-injury:
