Craig Kieswetter misses next season in bid to regain full vision

Somerset and England wicketkeeper suffered the injury five months ago

Craig Kieswetter posted this picture of his injury in July

Somerset and England wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter is likely to miss the 2015 season because of an eye injury he suffered five months ago.

The county said that the 27-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman, who was last weekend named in England’s provisional 30-man squad for the World Cup in February, has “struggled to regain perfect vision”.

Kieswetter, who has played in 46 one-day internationals and 25 Twenty20 internationals, broke his nose and damaged an eye socket while batting for Somerset against Northamptonshire in July.

A statement read: “Craig Kieswetter, who sustained a terrible injury to his eye while batting against Northamptonshire last summer, has struggled to regain perfect vision which has affected his performances in the recent SA domestic T20 tournament.

“As a result of this, Craig will be withdrawing from the Big Bash T20 in Australia to undergo further specialist rehabilitation.

“The long-term prognosis is unknown at this stage, but it is unlikely that he will be fit for the 2015 season.”

The South Africa-born Kieswetter said: “It is really disappointing, but my eye is not 100 per cent, and this of course is critical in maintaining the levels of performance that I expect of myself.”

He added: “I need to make every effort to resolve the matter and have the best specialist help in that regard.”

Kieswetter had signed up to play for Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash, which starts next week. Somerset’s director of cricket, Matthew Maynard, said: “This is clearly worrying news for Craig, and his health and well-being are paramount in our minds at present.

“We will continue to support him during his treatment and rehabilitation and hope to see him return to playing as quickly as possible.”