Former Australian Test opener Will Pucovski was forced to retire from professional cricket at the age of 26. Pucovski has faced a long series of injuries throughout his career, mostly due to blows on the head that led to concussion.
As recently as in March 2024, he was concussed and forced to retire hurt after Riley Meredith hit him on the helmet during a Sheffield Shield match. It ruled him out of the rest of the Australian summer and forced him to opt out of a contract with Leicestershire for the English summer of 2024.
Apart from the physical blows, Pucovski admitted to the constant injuries affecting his mental health.
Cricket Victoria, his state association, did offer him a contract in 2024/25, but it came with a condition. Cricket Australia instructed that CV would have to hold on to the contract until Pucovski had been assessed by a committee comprising of representatives from CA, CV, and independent medical experts.
On August 29, 9News Melbourne reported that the committee had officially ended Pucovski’s professional cricket career.
At the age of 26, Will Pucovski’s professional cricket career is sadly over following a recommendation from a panel of experts. His last concussion was in March.
— Tom Morris (@tommorris32) August 29, 2024
Details coming up shortly on @9NewsMelb 🏏 @SEN_Cricket
From 36 first-class matches, Pucovski scored 2,350 runs at 45.19 with seven hundreds. He made 62 and 10 in his only Test match, against India at Sydney in 2020/21. He remains a rare instance of an Australian international cricketer to have never played T20 cricket since the inception of the BBL, though he did receive a contract with the Melbourne Stars in 2020/21.
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