Chris Rogers urges Will Pucovski to face his fears in bid for Test debut

Victorian coach Chris Rogers has weighed in on Will Pucovski’s apparent short-ball weakness after the batting prodigy was struck again playing for Australia A.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – DECEMBER 08: Will Pucovski of Australia A bats during day three of the International Tour match between Australia A and India A at Drummoyne Oval on December 08, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

Will Pucovski must stare “down his fears” before he is considered for a Boxing Day Test debut, but he has the time to vanquish any demons.

That’s the belief of Pucovski’s mentor Chris Rogers, the former Test opener who knows all about the challenges of returning from concussion.

Rogers suffered notable head knocks during his illustrious career, on tour in the West Indies and during an Ashes Test at Lord’s, and admits trying to come back from concussion is almost like starting over again.

Pucovski, just 22 years of age, has now had nine concussions, but after being ruled out for the first Test in Adelaide, Australian medical staff are confident the young star can be fit for the second Test at the MCG.

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Will Pucovski ducks into a short ball playing for Australia A.

Rogers says Pucovski will be fully aware of the process ahead and hit back at suggestions the prodigiously talented batsman is vulnerable against the short ball.

“Time is gold. From my own experience, you just need a bit of time to get over it. Then get back in the nets, almost go through your process again, face your fears down a little bit and almost get back on the horse,” said Rogers.

“Yeah, every day is going to count for him. And now he has a bit more time to prepare for Melbourne, that’s going to help.

“He’s been through it before and keeps coming out the other side, so he’s definitely shown resilience around it.”

Rogers said Australia’s other superstar-in-the-making Cameron Green does have enough time to prove his fitness from his own head knock, provided his mild concussion symptoms have dissipated by the end of the weekend.

Pucovski goes to his knees after being struck on the helmet.

However, the heavier cloud hanging over Pucovski’s future is based on his history of concussions and the question mark over whether he can ever be safe facing short pitch bowling.

Rogers said any suggestion Pucovski does not play the short ball well or is more vulnerable to getting hit than any batsman was a fallacy.

Pucovski’s Victorian coach said his protégé was targeted with bouncers during the opening Sheffield Shield rounds, and emerged with twin double hundreds.

“I know he’s done so much work on playing the short ball and he just made a mistake,” said Rogers, of the incident last week when Pucovski misjudged a ball from an Indian net bowler in a tour match which struck him on the helmet.

“Sometimes you don’t always get it right. But what people might not know is he played a couple of Shield games and they tried to bounce him from almost the 10th over for his whole innings and he got two double hundreds.

“So he has actually been playing that short ball pretty well, he just made one little mistake.

“I think he has enough confidence in what he’s doing that if he had that opportunity, he’d be able to go out and take on the Indian bowlers.”

Pucovski was in line for a Test debut before another concussion scare.

Another Rogers’ pupil at Victoria, opener Marcus Harris, now looks poised for a remarkable Test return.

Rogers said Harris still has improvement ahead of him, but he is a much improved batsman from the one dropped during last year’s Ashes.

“I think he’s definitely in a good position now. Just observing him, he looks pretty happy and content and I think the way he’s going about his batting is something he’s pretty pleased with,” he said.

“I still think there’s more to go with his batting. It’s never the finished article, but he seems to be playing quite well, and transferring his weight better.”

Originally published as Chris Rogers urges Will Pucovski to face his fears in bid for Test debut