Sunday, 15 July 2012

'Positive' news for Boucher


Former South Africa wicketkeeper Mark Boucher has received "positive" news from his surgeon, Shuaib Manjra, in Cape Town, which suggests he may regain sight in his left eye after Monday's freak on-field accident in Taunton that fast-forwarded his decision to retire.


Manjra told the Sunday Times that there was "no obvious detachment of the retina which is very positive." Boucher can recognise hand movements and identify the direction of light in the injured eye but will still have to undergo more exploratory surgery and months of other procedures to determine the exact severity of the damage and make a recovery.


In the immediate term, Manjra, and the medical team, are still exploring the exact cause of the injury, which Boucher thinks had something to do with the ball. "He's still convinced that the ball hit him," Manjra said. "The amount of damage is not commensurate with simply a bail hitting him, unless there was a freak angle or freak speed and it hit him in a vulnerable spot. In other words, everything just went wrong for him on that day."


Manjra said Boucher remained in good spirits and had continued to "ask a lot of questions because he wants to get a full picture of what happened." His recovery is being aided by his mother, Heather, and girlfriend, Carmen Lotter, who have both moved into his home in Claremont, Cape Town.


It is too early to tell if Boucher will play cricket again, although there have been suggestions that he is interested in representing his franchise, Cape Cobras. Meanwhile, the South African Cricketers' Association has begun the process of assisting Boucher in claiming disability insurance.

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