The South African-born England wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter has announced his retirement from cricket at the age of 27 due to the serious eye injury he suffered in 2014.

The Somerset keeper sustained the injury in July when he was struck in the face while batting against David Willey at Northampton in the County Championship.

He returned for the last two matches of the season, making 69 on his return. However, during his time playing T20 cricket for the Warriors in South Africa during the winter he realised that he hadn’t recovered sufficiently to enable him to regain his best form, which has forced him to make his decision.  

Born in Johannesburg, he  played for South Africa at the 2006 Under-19 World Cup before attending Millfield School in Somerset. He has a Scottish mother, and qualified for England in February 2010. He was immediately drafted into the national squad and went on to play 46 ODIs and 25 T20Is  2010 and 2012. He was Man of the Match when England won the World T20 in the West Indies in 2010.

‘After been given the opportunity to take some time off and step away from the game, I’ve come to the decision that wasn’t the easiest to make, yet I feel is the right one, Kieswetter said in a statement on the club’s website somersetcountycc.co.uk.

‘Having gone through that experience of my eye injury and everything it entailed, I feel mentally I will never again be the player that I was. As a person/player I am not comfortable continuing if I cannot give 100%.

‘I have had a terrific career, with plenty of ups and occasional downs, and I am calling time on my career and walking away with no regrets.’

He scored 5 728 first-class runs at just under 40, and in 2009 topped 1 000 first-class runs which included 153 against Lancashire at Taunton. His highest score was 164 against Lancashire.