Somerset Director of Cricket Matt Maynard has updated fans after Craig Kieswetter saw a specialist in Belgium on Tuesday to assess his injured eye.
Matt said Craig will meet with a number of consultants in the next few weeks, including an eye specialist in the United States, as he continues to battle back from the horrific injury he sustained at Northampton last season.
Matt admitted in an interview with BBC Radio Somerset this week that Craig’s injury could be ‘career ending’. He explained more to the club website yesterday:
“When he came back at the tail end of last season Craig knew that his eye wasn’t quite as good as it was prior to the injury. Then when he played in the Ram Slam T20 over in South Africa it became evident to Craig that the eye hadn’t improved from where it was at the end of the season so that’s obviously a concern for him. He will see an eye specialist in Belgium, as well as seeing a specialist in the USA. That will hopefully give some indication as to what will happen going forward.
“Craig has got a lot of years left as a top player but it is important that he makes sure he gets his vision looked after which is why he is seeing the best eye specialists in the world. Hopefully, that will give us a better understanding of the long term prognosis.
“As a coach I have had to plan that we won’t see him for the summer. If the results from the specialists are positive and he feels that he is ready to resume his career before the end of the season then we would be delighted to have him back.
“Craig has to think quite selfishly at this stage about what’s best for him. He loves playing cricket for Somerset and I am sure that he would love to continue doing so but first and foremost he knows that his eye has got to be right.
“Obviously we all wish him the very best with the upcoming appointments with the specialists and hopefully we’ll have some good news for both Craig and Somerset County Cricket Club.”
Craig tweeted on Tuesday morning that he had an important day ahead in Belgium and received good luck messages from across the cricket family, including former England captain and wicket-keeper Alec Stewart, former Somerset overseas player Dean Elgar and England one-day bowler Jade Dernbach.
All of us at The Incider wish Kiesy the very best and hope he will be able to play cricket for Somerset again in the future.