Craig Kieswetter right to retire says David Fulton

Sky Sports pundit David Fulton thinks Craig Kieswetter is right to have retired from the sport if he feels he cannot get back to his best.

Kieswetter called time on his career on Friday after giving up his battle to return from the severe facial injuries he suffered last summer.

The Somerset wicket-keeper was struck by a bouncer from Northants all-rounder David Willey and sustained a broken eye socket and damage to his nose and cheekbone.

He made a brief comeback towards the end of last year and played in South Africa over the winter, but he eventually brought that return to an end as he was still struggling with his vision, something Fulton has experience of.

Fulton, who captained Kent, was struck by a ball delivered from a bowling machine prior to the 2003 season, and although he played on for three years he admitted his form was never the same because of his previous injury.

He told Sky Sports News HQ: “I wasn’t the same player. I soldiered on for three years but I dropped catches I would never normally have dropped and, as a batsman, you rely on your reflexes.

"You’ve got to pick the ball up quickly, and I was half-blind in one eye. I found a way of scoring runs but I wasn’t the same player.

"To swing it back to Craig, his reflexes as a keeper-batsman are fundamental to his game. He’s an explosive player and he’d want to see the ball quickly. He was a much more attacking player than I ever was and in that mode you’ve got to have all your reflexes and faculties about you.

"He obviously felt he was never going to be the same player. I don’t know the specifics of his injuries but it is desperately sad as he was a fine, fine player."

Although Kieswetter was never selected in England's Test side, he played more than 70 games in one-day and T20 internationals, and Fulton feels he would have continued to be an asset going forward.

He added: "The way the game is going, with the attacking cricket, Craig was cut from that cloth.

"He could put bat to ball, he was part of that World T20 winning side when he led from the front, hitting fours and sixes, so this must have been a really tough decision for him to have made.

"But only he will know and if he felt he was a pale imitation of himself, then it’s a brave thing to do. He could have come back and played, and got by I am sure, but that’s not what he was about."

Fulton also feels the decision will help Kieswetter get over any lingering issues he has in his mind about trying to come back and face the fastest bowlers in the world.

He added: "I think we have seen with Stuart Broad, who got struck in the face last summer, that a cricket ball doing that can shake you up and do strange things to you mentally.

"I got hit by a ball from a bowling machine when I wasn’t looking, so I probably didn’t have that same mental hang-up because it was a freak accident.

"Craig missed a bouncer from David Willey and the trauma of that, and everything he has gone through since trying to get back, understandably it will affect you mentally. It’s a mental thing, but it’s also about confidence.

"You get that short ball, you pull it – if you can’t do that you resort to blocking it and you aren’t the same player. He will be missed, especially by Somerset, who two years ago had Jos Buttler and Craig sharing the gloves. Now they’ve got neither of them."