Former prodigy Will Pucovski quits all cricket after career of head knocks

Having managed only a single Test, former batting prodigy Will Pucovski has made a big call as the toll of multiple head knocks continues to impact his life.

Former Test prodigy Will Pucovski says he is still struggling with concussion symptoms a year on from his career-ending blow to the head after confirming his retirement from all forms of cricket.

Pucovski was encouraged by a medical panel to retire after he was hit on the helmet batting against Tasmanian quick Riley Meredith in March last year.

The 27-year-old was contracted by Victoria this summer despite not playing a match as the investigation carried over the contract deadline.

He admits he is scared by his ongoing symptoms, including a weak left side, headaches and a proneness to motion sickness.

“It unfortunately got me in a pretty bad spot and then I guess from there it was quite tough because the couple of months post that were really tough from a physical point of view,” Pucovski said on Tuesday.

“Really struggling to get anything done, even walking around the house was a struggle, my fiancee wasn’t too happy because I couldn’t contribute.

Will Pucovski suffers one of his concussions against South Australia. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images

“I was sleeping a lot and then not sleeping at all, going through a lot of different things and I guess from there it’s been a really tough year because a lot of the symptoms haven’t really gone away.

“Which has made this decision come to a head in a way because those first couple of months were absolutely horrendous but since then there’s been lingering stuff which hasn’t really left me.

“I have only just turned 27 and the whole space of concussion is very young in the sense that you don’t really know what is what.”

Pucovski, who played one Test for Australia and scored a half-century against Indian star Jasprit Bumrah, says he is searching for answers about his condition.

“It’s unfortunately gotten to a stage now where a year or so down the track (I am) still suffering, still don’t have the answers I have been looking for in terms of why I am still getting these symptoms and it’s come time to make this decision,” he told SEN.

Pucovski made 50 in his only Test. Picture: Cameron Spencer – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images

“There’s obviously the mental health symptoms, which in my medical opinion is definitely related to the concussion stuff.

“There’s a lot of fatigue which is quite bad, I still get regular headaches, a weird thing which has been bizarre to me is I struggle with things on my left side.

“If I have got things happening in my left, I start feeling really dizzy, really sick, really headachy.

“On Saturday I had to get the train into the city for a bit of last minute wedding prep, coming home from that I planned to watch my mates at Old Brighton but I had to have a three hour nap because I was buggered from the train.

“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.

“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.”

Pucovski loomed as a long-term opening batter for Australia after his single Test in 2021 but never wore the baggy green again.

He finished his career with 2350 first class runs, including seven centuries, all for Victoria, at an average of just under 48 runs an innings.

Originally published as Former prodigy Will Pucovski quits all cricket after career of head knocks