Eye drops the secret formula for record-breaking Ross Taylor in Perth

The secret to Ross Taylor's record-breaking innings came from a bottle of eye drops prescribed by a Brisbane optometrist.

Scoring one run, let alone the 290 he plundered off Australia's bowlers in the second cricket test in Perth, was his major worry after he struggled to see the red Kookaburra ball when batting during New Zealand's heavy defeat in Brisbane.

A pterygium on his left eye - a benign growth known as surfer's eye - was the problem that needed fixing, fast.

"I had to get my eyes tested in between. I couldn't really see the ball so the eye drops obviously worked," he said.

"The optometrist said 'when it's dark, you'll probably do this a lot'," Taylor said, demonstrating how he would open his eyes wide, "and I told the boys and they lost it, because that's how they take the mickey out of me."

Indeed, he saw it like a beach ball for most of the nine-and-a-half hours he batted for the highest test score in Australia by a visiting batsman. It moved him up to third on the New Zealand all-time list behind skipper Brendon McCullum (302) and his mentor Martin Crowe (299).