Australian batter Will Pucovski compelled to retire due to concussions

Melbourne [Australia], August 29 (ANI): Australian batter Will Pucovski has been forced to retirement from professional cricket after a series of concussions sustained in his career.

The young Aussie batter is only 26 at the time of his retirement. 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, 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.

Pucovski played just one match for Australia, scoring 62 and 10 against India back in the 2020-21 season. 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 is a rare instance of an Australian international player not playing any T20 match since the inception of the Big Bash League (BBL) back in 2011, though he received a deal from Melbourne Stars back in 2020-21.