Klusener to consult eye specialist after dramatic loss of form

Lance Klusener, the hero of the 1999 cricket World Cup, will be consulting an eye specialist in Cape Town following his dramatic loss of batting form in Sharjah.

Klusener, who won the Player of the Tournament award at the World Cup after several astonishing batting efforts kept South Africa alive until the semi-finals, was bowled for three successive ducks in the recent limited-overs tournament in Sharjah, being dismissed first ball on two occasions.

According to his manager and the director of the Natal cricket academy, Andrew Shedlock, Klusener battled to pick the ball up off the straw-coloured sub-continental pitch. "He got bowled by three straight ones and he told me that he just wasn't picking the ball up," Shedlock told the Natal Witness on Wednesday. "But Graham Ford (SA coach) says he's not the only one - it's very difficult at night over there when the white ball gets dirty and turns the same colour as the pitch."

Klusener was playing in an all-rounders' challenge in Cape Town on Wednesday, and Shedlock confirmed that the Natal star will be visiting an eye specialist while he's down there. "Lance is sure it's nothing serious, but he just wants to get his night vision checked," Shedlock said. While his batting form and his early exit from the all-rounder challenge will cause Klusener concern, he has reason to smile over his highly economical bowling in Sharjah and the news from London yesterday that he has been named one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year.

"Overall, Lance is very happy with his season," Shedlock said. "He has established himself as a Test batsman and his bowling is back to its best as well."