Melbourne (Australia): Australian batter Will Pucovski, who was considered as the next big thing in Australian cricket, has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket after being forced to bid farewell to professional cricket after a series of concussions sustained in his career.
The Aussie batter, who played Tests against India during the 2021-22 Border Gavaskar Trophy down under, is only 26 at the time of his retirement, an age when the majority of the cricketers make debuts for their national teams. Pucovski has had a long history of injuries due to concussions in his cricketing career which started in 2017.
Recently in March 2024, the 26-year-old was concussed after a delivery from Riley Meredith hit him on his helmet while representing Victoria in a Sheffield Shield match. This ruled him out of the remainder of the Australian cricket summer and forced him to opt out of a county cricket deal with Leicestershire for the English summer of 2024, as per Wisden.
Apart from physical blows, Pucovski admitted that constant injuries and concussions also affected his mental health. Cricket Victoria (CV), Pucovski's state team association, offered him a contract for the 2024-25 season which came with a condition.
Cricket Australia instructed that CV would have to hold on to the contract until the batter's assessment by a committee consisting of representatives of both the bodies and some independent medical experts. On Thursday, 9News Melbourne reported that the committee had put an end to Batter's playing career.
The 26-year-old played just one Test for Australia, scoring 62 and 10 against India in Sydney back in the 2020-21 season. Even that game saw him getting a concussion due to a head injury while fielding a ball. Because of this injury, he didn't take a part in famous 'The Gabba Test'.
In 36 first-class games, the 26-year-old made 2,350 runs at an average of 45.19 with seven centuries and nine fifties. In List A cricket, he played 14 matches, scoring 333 runs at an average of 27.75, with a century and two fifties in 12 innings.
Pucovski didn't play a single Big Bash League (BBL) match in his career, something which is quite rare in Australian cricket. However, he had received a deal from Melbourne Stars back in 2020-21.
