Will Pucovski making giant strides in mental health battle

Victorian coach Chris Rogers has revealed that batting prodigy Will Pucovski’s well documented concussion issues were not the most significant hurdle faced by the young star.

The race to replace David Warner has taken an intriguing twist, with batting prodigy Will Pucovski making giant leaps in his recovery.

Pucovski’s form might be down to start the Sheffield Shield summer, but Victorian coach Chris Rogers has declared the 25-year-old is mentally in “the best position he’s ever been.”

Rogers revealed on the Willow Talk Cricket Podcast that Pucovski was hit in the head playing club cricket in England this year and continued batting, representing a massive advancement from the string of seemingly innocuous head knocks that had been sidelining him for long periods of time.

Marcus Harris, Matthew Renshaw and Cameron Bancroft have been touted as the three leading candidates to succeed Warner this summer, but one-Test wonder Pucovski would instantly rocket back into contention once selectors are confident he is mentally ready for a return to Test cricket.

Victorian coach Chris Rogers has backed Will Pucovski to return to the Test arena. Picture: Getty Images

Rogers said Pucovski’s difficult couple of years have been more to do with mental health than concerns over concussion and declared his Test career is far from over.

“He could definitely be back in the baggy green,” Rogers told Willow Talk.

“Without trying to give too much away, the concussions probably have masked what is the bigger issue for Will.

“He’s been dealing with some more mental health issues that the concussions brought to life a lot more.

“He was playing cricket in England (this year), and he got hit in the head and he kept batting.

“If you knew what will had been through, he’d had sometimes where the ball flicked his head and he was out for a month. It wasn’t really concussion we were dealing with, it was a lot of the other issues.

“He’s been working through that for a long, long time and now I could comfortably say this is the best position he’s ever been.”

Pucovski is averaging just 16 from seven innings for Victoria in the Sheffield Shield this summer. Picture: Getty Images

Pucovski has one more first-class game against South Australia starting next week before the season goes into a Big Bash hiatus, but even if he isn’t first cab off the rank to succeed Warner as Australia’s new Test opener, the good news is he is on the right path to putting together the kind of continuity of play selectors will be looking for.

“He’s coming through games happy. He’s recovering well. And the interesting thing now is it’s more about actual the cricket and the batting,” Rogers said.

“Whereas before all he’s ever thought about is getting through a game. Now he’s focusing on the batting.

“He probably hasn’t got the runs he wants but that will click for him very shortly. If you know Will, he’s such a class player. If he gets a run on, his name will be right up there again.”

Originally published as Will Pucovski making giant strides in mental health battle