Glenn Maxwell isn't quite sure how he got conjunctivitis, but it didn't seem to hinder his performance.

Maxwell made 84 from 47 balls in the Melbourne Stars' loss to the Sydney Sixers at the SCG on Tuesday night despite battling a sore neck and the the eye condition, which almost stopped him from playing.

He said after the game he'd only be guessing where it came from, and the cause will likely remain a mystery. Yet even with his eye ailment, made worse by a sore neck caused by trying to switch-hit Nathan Lyon, Maxwell battled on in a breathtaking innings.

"I had to pull away a couple of times. Just trying to re-focus after blinking is difficult," he explained.