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Will Pucovski news rocks cricket world as Aussie gun 'forced to retire' over worrying saga

Pucovski has been rocked by numerous head knocks in his career.

andrew reid
·5-min read

Luckless Aussie cricket star Will Pucovski is reportedly set to retire from the sport at just 26 after a recommendation from medical experts. That's according to a report from Nine's Tom Morris, who claims the Victorian batter has been advised by a panel of medical professionals to give the sport away in the wake of a long series of concussions that have cruelled his career.

Pucovski was touted as a future Test superstar for Australia but played just the one match for Australia in reed-ball cricket after making his debut in January 21. But a series of head knocks and a brief period out of the game to deal with his mental health stalled the prodigiously talented batter's progress.

Will Pucovski has reportedly retired from cricket on the advice of medical professionals. Pic: Getty
Will Pucovski has reportedly retired from cricket on the advice of medical professionals. Pic: Getty

The 26-year-old was ruled out of the sport indefinitely after being struck on the helmet by a bouncer during Victoria's Sheffield Shield clash with Tasmania in March this year. Pucovski ducked into a short ball while playing for Victoria on March 3, and suffered what was understood to be the 12th concussion of his career, sparking grave concerns for his future.

It was a crushing blow to Pucovski who had only just hit a century against New South Wales the month prior to that incident, marking the first time in three years that he had scored a first-class ton. As well as the dozen or so concussions he's suffered, Pucovski has also been struck down by injury throughout his career - most notably when he hurt his shoulder while diving in the field during his lone Test match against India in January 2021.

Will Pucovski suffered an awful blow during the Sheffield Shield clash between Victoria and Tasmania in March. Image: Getty/Cricket.com.au
Will Pucovski suffered an awful blow during the Sheffield Shield clash between Victoria and Tasmania in March. Image: Getty/Cricket.com.au

“My understanding is that an independent panel of experts recommended Pucovski retire three months ago, and all that’s left is for Cricket Victoria and his team to formalise that contractually,” Morris told Nine News about the batter's sad predicament. “The news doesn’t come as a surprise to teammates of Pucovski who haven’t seen him at training all pre-season, in fact he’s been travelling overseas.”

Pucovski has said previously that some of his mental health struggles link back to his first concussion. And a medical panel found in 2022 that some of the batter's head knocks were “not true concussions” and more likely related to stress or mental trauma. But the news that the 26-year-old is being forced to retire has sparked an outpouring of messages from a shattered cricket community around the world.

The brutal development comes just a little over six months after Pucovski spoke so optimistically about his career after the drought-breaking first-class century for Victoria in February. "To get that first hundred back, I sort of look at it as a bit of a second chance at a career which I've been very lucky to have," he said on SEN radio at the time.

"(That second chance) is because of the support I've had from my state, my teammates, everyone that's been around me like my family and my friends. It just sort of feels like hopefully, I can start to sort of repay that faith that a lot of people have had in me when it probably would have been easier to give up … and I was pretty close to giving up on myself at some stages. So, it did feel sort of extra special I think in that regard, it sort of felt like a first hundred."

Seen here, Will Pucovski in his Test debut against India in 2021.
Will Pucovski scored a half century on Test debut against India in his one and only red-ball match for Australia. Pic: Getty

But the extent of Pucovski's concussion and mental health battles have been well documented and the 26-year-old provided an insight into his long-running battles earlier in the year. "I sort of link the mental health stuff back to my first concussion ... which was when I was about 15 or 16," he said. "I have a lot of concussion symptoms that over a seven or eight year period, actually never subsided.

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"You just sort of got used to having them in a way. The brain's pretty amazing and can find ways to adapt. I would fail concussion tests in the exact same way every single time, regardless of whether I had been hit in the head, and that was over a seven or eight year period.

"I try to see concussion as an injury that has happened in the past. If you get hit, just deal with it again, you'll be OK. But the mental health side, it's been about accepting that's my bigger challenge.