Will Pucovski has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket at the age of 27 after facing a “difficult year”. The Victoria opener, who recently played his first and only Test match for Australia, has had a debilitating tryst with concussions, the last one being in a Sheffield Shield fixture in March 2024, when he retired hurt after copping a Riley Meredith bouncer on the helmet.
“I’m not going to be playing cricket again,” Pucovski told SEN Radio. “It’s been a really difficult year, to put it as simply as possible. The simple message is, I won’t be playing at any level again.
“In the couple of months post that (last concussion) I struggled to get anything done, walking around the house was a struggle. My fiancee was annoyed because I didn’t contribute to chores. I was sleeping a lot. From there it’s been a tough year, a lot of the symptoms didn’t go away, which has led me to this decision. The first few months were horrendous, but things didn’t leave me.”
Last year, an independent medical panel recommended that Pucovski walk away from the game.
“In my head, I didn’t want to make an official call until I was symptom-free,” Pucovski said. “When you’re struggling it’s hard to make a huge decision. The medical panel recommended I retire and that was really difficult to come to terms with. I felt like I was coming over the hill with a few things.
“Technically you can’t make anyone retire from anything…it got made clear to me it was a strong recommendation, but the final decision ultimately was up to me.
“Since then, I have spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to find answers, trying to understand what the brain injury is that I have and why have I had all these problems.
“There probably wasn’t a moment that I thought ‘This is the day’ but things haven’t changed. I wanted to hold on to the dream as long as I could but the flip side to that is you want to feel better and live your life normally.
“I just don’t want to risk doing any more damage to my brain than I’ve already done.”
Luckless Victorian Will Pucovski, again hit by a short ball. He's gone off, retired hurt. Awful to see. @9NewsMelb pic.twitter.com/sp1YtP5Owd
— Trent Kniese (@trent_kniese) March 3, 2024
Expanding on the long-term effects of getting hit in the head umpteen times, Pucovski said it’s “scary” how concussions have changed him.
“It’s complicated,” Pucovski said. “There’s the mental health symptoms which is one part of it. Then there’s the fatigue, which is quite bad, I get regular headaches.
“I really struggle with things on my left side. If I have things happening to my left I feel sick and dizzy. I struggle with motion sickness.
“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.”
Having burst through the ranks, Pucovski was earmarked as a future star for Australia. He made his national debut against India at the SCG in 2021, but that will unfortunately remain his only Test cap.
“It had always been my dream to play for Australia, I found myself in that position in 2021. My ambition didn’t stop there. I wanted to be that guy that was a leader of the batting unit. I wanted to play 100 Tests. Unfortunately, one Test is where it ends.”
