Will Pucovski, touted as one of Australia’s greatest-ever batting talents, has retired after a prolonged history with concussion. Pucovski, 27, has said that he will not be playing any form of cricket going forward and instead will be transitioning towards commentary and coaching.
The right-hander was hit on his head 13 times while batting in the cricket field. In his last professional game for Victoria (March 2024), Pucovski was hit by Tasmania fast bowler Riley Meredith, forcing him to retire midway through the game. After the match, a Cricket Australia medical panel recommended that he call time on his young career to safeguard his future.
Speaking to SEN in an interview, Pucovski revealed that the after-effects of concussion have had a horrendous effect on his daily life. In an emotional interview, the young 27-year-old revealed that he felt sick and dizzy whenever he wanted to concentrate on things happening to his left side.
“I’m not going to be playing cricket again. It’s been a really difficult year, to put it as simply as possible. The simple message is, I won’t be playing at any level again. In the couple of months post that (last concussion) I struggled to get anything done, walking around the house was a struggle,” Pucovski told SEN in an interview on Tuesday.
“My fiance was annoyed because I didn’t contribute to chores. I was sleeping a lot. From there it’s been a tough year, a lot of the symptoms didn’t go away, which has led me to this decision. The first few months were horrendous, but things didn’t leave me,” he added.
Don’t Want More Risk: Pucovski
The batter spoke in detail about arriving at the decision. Since making his first-class debut in 2017, Pucovski scored 2350 runs from 36 games, including 7 hundreds and 9 fifties. When on song, Pucovski was a prolific red-ball batter in the Sheffield Shield. He was handed a Test debut against India in 2021, where he scored 62 runs in the first innings.
In that match, Pucovski had added 100 runs with Marnus Labuschagne, setting Australia up well to win the game. The hosts were famously denied a win by the Indian batting line-up, who shouldered an incredible bouncer barrage from Pat Cummins and co. to eke out a draw in the Sydney Test.
“When you’re struggling, it’s hard to make a huge decision,” Pucovski explained the reason for delaying the announcement.
“The medical panel recommended I retire, and that was really difficult to come to terms with. I felt like I was coming over the hill with a few things. Technically you can’t make anyone retire from anything it got made clear to me it was a strong recommendation, but the final decision ultimately was up to me,” he said.
“Since then, I have spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to find answers, trying to understand what the brain injury is that I have and why I have had all these problems. There probably wasn’t a moment that I thought ‘This is the day,’ but things haven’t changed. I wanted to hold on to the dream as long as I could, but the flip side to that is you want to feel better and live your life normally,” the batting prodigy added.
“I just don’t want to risk doing any more damage to my brain than I’ve already done,” Pucovski said on pulling the plug.
Struggles that Pucovski Faces in Daily Life
Will Pucovski went into detail about the daily struggles he faces due to multiple concussion injuries. He revealed the harrowing long-term effects of concussion on an individual’s life.
“It’s complicated. There’s the mental health symptoms, which is one part of it. Then there’s the fatigue, which is quite bad, I get regular headaches,” Pucovski said.
“I really struggle with things on my left side. If I have things happening on my left, I feel sick and dizzy. I struggle with motion sickness,” he added.
“Yes (it’s scary), at 27, I have so much ahead of me and I have so many things I want to achieve in my life. I wanted to play another 15 years, and that gets taken away, which is bad enough. At least I know I won’t get hit in the head again, but when the symptoms are ongoing, it’s frightening,” he said.
“I know what I was like before these concussions and I know what I am now. My family and friends have noticed a difference in me, and that’s scary for me and for them,” concluded Pucovski.
