'Takes guts': Test hopeful Will Pucovski's bold decision
Will Pucovski has requested that he not be considered for selection in Australia's side for the first cricket Test against Pakistan citing mental health reasons.
Pucovski, 21, informed team management of his decision in Perth on Tuesday evening and it was agreed he could finish Australia A's three-day tour game against Pakistan.
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Cricket Australia fully support his decision.
"We applaud Will for having the courage to discuss his situation with team management in Perth," Cricket Australia's EGM of National Teams Ben Oliver said.
"Will's decision not to nominate for Test selection was the right one in the circumstances and one that everyone in the Australian cricket family supports."
Pucovski’s request not to be considered for the Test team comes after fellow Victorian batsmen Glenn Maxwell and Nic Maddinson had also taken steps back from cricket in recent weeks.
Maxwell missed Australia’s T20 series’ against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, while Maddinson withdrew from the Australia A side that faced Pakistan on Monday.
All the best to Will Pucovski.
Don't know him personally but like many do know how important mental health is.
Takes guts to put your hand up and ask for help.— Tim Michell (@tim_michell) November 13, 2019
Kohli’s praise for Aussies over mental health
Describing Maxwell’s decision to go public with his struggles as ‘remarkable’, Kohli said Maxwell had set a standard players and cricket boards around the world.
“I think what Glenn has done is remarkable,” Kohli said.
“It has set the right example for cricketers around the world that if you’re not in the best frame of mind you try, and try and try, but as human beings you reach a tipping point at some stage or the other.
“And you need time away from the game. Not to say you give up, but just to gain more clarity.”
The Indian Test captain also revealed he had endured his own mental health woes while on tour in England back in 2014, but felt that he couldn’t speak up at the time.
“I’ve gone through a phase in my career where I felt like it was the end of the world,” he said.
“In England 2014, I didn’t know what to do, what to say to anyone, and how to speak and how to communicate.
“And to be honest, I couldn’t have said: ‘I’m not feeling great mentally and I need to get away from the game’. Because you never know how that’s taken.”
WITH AAP