New Delhi: Australian cricketer Will Pucovski on Thursday announced his retirement from professional cricket after enduring a series of injury and head concussions. The move comes after a panel of medical experts recommended to the Victoria player, as reported by 9News, an Australian media firm from Melbourne.
After playing a solitary Test for the Australian men’s national team besides 36 first-class and 14 List A matches, Pucovski’s cricket journey has ended prematurely at the age of 26. Once dubbed to be Australia’s future star in the red-ball format, Pucovski scored 2350 runs in 36 FC matches at an average 45.19 with seven centuries coming from his willow.
According to a report by 9News Melbourne’s Tom Morris on Thursday, the retirement decision was made several months ago, but will shortly be formalised contractually by Cricket Victoria. He came to a conclusion of this decision following a series of head injuries and multiple episodes of concussion.
He last played competitive cricket during the Sheffield Shield 2023-24 season for Victoria in their match against Tasmania. Puckovski suffered a blow on his head from Tasmania pacer Riley Meredith during Victoria’s 442-run chase. He was forced out of the field immediately, without scoring from the two balls faced by the No.3 Victoria batter.
That was his 12th concussion case, which ruled him out of the rest of the Australian summer. The 26-year-old also opted out of a contract with Leicestershire CCC for the English county championship this season.
Cricket Victoria and Pucovski’s team are still working through the final contractual details, but unfortunately his career is over. Such a shame – he was destined for a 10+ year Test stint. @SEN_Cricket https://t.co/HhPPJGjqKy
— Tom Morris (@tommorris32) August 29, 2024
Will Pucovski’s concussion timeline
Will Pucovski has been wary of head concussions even before he played his first red-ball game. The Victorian cricketer suffered three concussions before his First-Class debut in February 2017. On his debut FC match against New South Wales, he suffered a blow to his head while fielding.
According to an Indian Express report, between October 2017 and his Test debut in 2021, Pucovski would suffer four more concussions of varying degrees.
Pucovski played his first Test match, which also happens to be his only Test match till date, against India in January 2021. It was the third Test in Sydney in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21, where he opened the innings with David Warner and scored 62 and 10 runs, respectively, in both innings. He was ruled out of the remainder series after a shoulder dislocation.
In February 2022, Pucovski suffered his 11th concussion during Victoria’s Sheffield Shield game against South Australia. It was his comeback match after an extended break from the game. In October that year, the Australian prodigious decided to take a break from cricket because of mental health reasons.
After his 12th concussion in March this year, Puckovski won’t be seen in the Whites again on the cricket field.
Australian cricketer Will Pucovski on Thursday announced his retirement from professional cricket after enduring a series of injury and head concussions. The move comes after a panel of medical experts recommended to the Victoria player, as reported by 9News, an Australian media firm from Melbourne. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
