Concussions force Will Pucovski to announce his retirement, putting an end to a career that had barely even started.
Concussions have claimed the cricketing career of Australia batsman Will Pucovski, who announced his retirement at 27.
Pucovski spent a year out of the game taking all sorts of medical advise in a view to come back and prolong his career. Unfortunately, the panel that was appointed for his assistance came to the conclusion that retirement was the only logical course of action.
Pucovski was considered to be one of Australia’s leading lights coming out of the domestic circuit. He was consequently fast-tracked into the National side vs India in the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar series, where he won his only test cap.
It is a disappointing way to end a career given the talent and potential he possessed. But it was the right decision given the number of consussions he sustained throughout the course of his career.
Pucovski did take some time to consider the options available to him before confirming his decision.
He consequently went on SEN radio in Melbourne on Tuesday to announce he would not play cricket again.
Pucovski’s statement
“I wish I was coming in maybe under better circumstances,” Pucovski said. “I’m not going to be playing cricket again. It’s been a really difficult year to put it as simply as possible.
“I’d need a few hours, I think, to take you through the whole journey…but the simple message is I won’t be playing cricket at any level again.”
“After that century in Sydney, I thought from a personal point of view things were starting to click for me,” he said. “I consequently put a mountain of effort into getting things right off the field to be good on the field.
“It had always been my dream to play for Australia, I found myself in that position in 2021. My ambition didn’t stop there. I wanted to be that guy that was a leader of the batting unit. I wanted to play 100 Tests.
“Unfortunately, one Test is where it ends.”
Pucovski described the challenges he faced after his most recent concussion last year. According to him, the symptoms persisted longer than he had ever experienced, making this the most difficult year of his life to date.
“In the couple of months post that, I struggled to get anything done, walking around the house was a struggle. “My fiancée was annoyed because I didn’t contribute to chores. I was sleeping a lot.
“The technology isn’t quite there to understand what is what. When you have Concussions and its symptoms for over a year and I’ve had others for numerous years. It can be quite difficult to see how can I get out to play professional sport again when I’m struggling to live my life how I want to.”