‘Mental health bigger obstacle than concussion’: Will Pucovski opens up about his battles

Will Pucovski will bat at the SCG on Friday for the first time since his Test debut on the ground three years ago, having come to terms with the fact that mental health has been a bigger obstacle for him than his concussions.

Pucovski needs to regain the prolific knack for century-making that got him into the Australian team in the first place.

Will Pucovski is fighting his way back.Credit: James Brickwood

The game against New South Wales will be his first Shield appearance since he suffered the latest of a series of blows to the helmet during a second XI game during the Big Bash League.

On that occasion, he retired hurt and then returned to bat but was then subbed out of the remainder of the game.

Victoria’s medical staff have been extremely cautious with Pucovski given his history of concussions, but there is also a good deal of hope within Australian cricket that the 26-year-old can turn the corner towards consistent appearances and run-making.

Back in January 2021, Pucovski was chosen to open alongside David Warner in the fourth Test against India in Sydney, having first been chosen in an Australian squad in January 2019.

Pucovski’s latest blow to the head last month.Credit: Cricket Australia

He looked well and truly at home in Test cricket, sculpting an innings of 62 against Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, but injured his shoulder while fielding and was ruled out of the final game of the series in Brisbane.

That performance has remained in the thoughts of the national selectors all the while, even as Pucovski has had numerous setbacks related to concussions, his mental health and the juncture between the two issues.

“(Victorian coach Chris Rogers) was definitely right that the concussions have masked the bigger issues and that’s the mental health stuff,” Pucovski told Adam White on a Cricket Victoria podcast earlier this year. The release of the episode was held until he’d made his return to the state side after having suffered another knock to the head.

“The mental health has been a much bigger issue for me than even the concussions. I don’t fear for my long-term health, it’s more the mental health side that’s been the tougher part.”

Pucovski required shoulder surgery after diving awkwardly in the field during his Test debut in Sydney two seasons ago.Credit: Getty Images

If anything, what Pucovski needs now is to make a score for his state – since that Test debut, he has been unable to add to a tally of six first-class hundreds, and his average has dropped from 56.06 after 22 games to 43.94 after 34 games.

Since September 2022, Pucovski’s scores for Victoria have been 0,9, 37, 39, 0, 33, 3, 26, 5, 6, 12 and 65, with his most recent appearance against South Australia in Adelaide in November.

In 2022, Pucovski related how selection chair George Bailey had made it clear that the panel were looking at him through a long-term lense, rather than rushing him back to the Test side.

“I’d like to say that if I am playing Shield cricket for Victoria, and I’ve put my name up, I’m ready to go. If I’m doing well and put performances on the board then I can’t see why I wouldn’t be in line to be selected [for Australia],” Pucovski had said.

“But that’s in the selectors’ minds as to what they want to do. I had a chat to George Bailey around when I was pulled out of that initial Ashes squad and he just said, ‘Just make sure you get yourself right, we want you as a long-term player for Australia’, which was pretty awesome to hear to be honest.

“You get pretty worried that, with the injuries, people are maybe going to give up on you. But to hear that from him was great. So as soon as I’m back playing Victoria, I’m ready to play for Australia if selected.”

Pucovski did go back to the SCG in January 2023, but that was to commentate on the Test against South Africa, a role he has taken on numerous occasions for Seven.

He has since said that the bulk runs he scored in that period prior to his debut was a source of confusion as much as satisfaction due to the mental health issues he was going through.

“One day I’ll be ready to tell my whole story and it will probably make a lot more sense,” Pucovski told White. “I’ve explained what I’ve been through to my inner circle of people and actually all the responses I’ve got have been like ‘Jesus, I would never have guessed that in a million years, that doesn’t even make sense to me’.

“It hasn’t made sense to me for years, either, but I’ve been on this pathway to understand it all. I didn’t feel comfortable even speaking to psychologists about what I’ve been through for five or six years.

“When I made a double hundred in Perth when I was 20, I would have received hundreds of messages from people along the lines of ‘you must be so happy’, but I was so miserable.”

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