Cricket: Taylor sets his sights on quick return

Black Caps batman Ross Taylor will undergo eye surgery next week.

Ross Taylor will go under the knife next Wednesday in a bid to rid himself of an irritation in his left eye.

Taylor has a pterygium on the eye but has been cleared for the second test against Pakistan, starting in Hamilton tomorrow.

He will be sidelined for between four to six weeks, will miss the Chappell Hadlee ODI series in Australia early next month and is hoping for a full clearance after the surgery.
"My eyesight is still pretty good but there's a medical reason it needs to be done and hopefully the recovery is as short as possible," the 77-test veteran said today.

Taylor, 32, said although he's had the pterygium for around five years, it flared up only last summer during New Zealand's test in Brisbane.

"That's where I first [went] to get it sorted. It has slightly deteriorated since then."

Taylor, who has hit 15 test hundreds and is averaging 45.95, offered two encouraging omens ahead of the Pakistan match: in Perth for the second test last summer he got new eyedrops and had big left armer Mitch McClenaghan bowling at him in the nets. He then went out and made 290, the highest score by an overseas player in a test in Australia.

McClenaghan was in the nets again at Seddon Park today and Taylor has new eyedrops.
Taylor said overcast conditions are harder but "in Brisbane we came off the field and I said I couldn't really see much, then I took a good one-handed catch".

He was always confident of getting the all clear from a specialist yesterday to play this test.

"I guess the growth was coming across (the eye). I had prepared myself to play before [I saw] the specialist.

"I'm looking forward to this test; I can't say I'm looking forward to the operation."

Taylor quipped that he didn't want to insult eye specialists in describing what the operation entails but had a crack anyway.

"They cut the eye growth, take a little bit from under the eyelid and glue it in so the growth doesn't grow back."

Longer term Taylor, who saw two optometrists, two specialists and spoke to a surgeon on the phone, said he's been given good reason to be optimistic.

"There could be a period where it doesn't deteriorate a bit, but hopefully I will get it back after a little while.

"It just gets a little bit irritated when it's windy. I go down to breakfast, the eyes a bit red and the team think you've been out all night," Taylor quipped.