Cricket Victoria general manager of cricket Shaun Graf says multiple scenarios surrounding Will Pucovski are on the table following yet another concussion to the embattled opener.
Pucovski suffered what is believed to be his 11th concussion on Saturday in “innocuous” circumstances, having been struck in the face by a soccer ball during warm-ups for a Sheffield Shield game.
Graf confirmed the nature of the incident, suggesting it threw the team into “chaos” for a short time.
“It was fairly innocuous to be quite honest, it was a ball that just scraped his face and he was okay, then he started to get a little bit of a headache,” Graf told SEN Breakfast.
“He went back out and he fielded but he had to come straight back off, he felt nauseous and they’re all the symptoms of a concussion.
“Very disappointing, disappointing for him but also disappointing for the team, it threw us into a bit of chaos for about half an hour.”
The 24-year-old was playing in his comeback first-class match, his first since early 2021. He suffered a concussion while batting in the nets in October last year that ruled him out of the Ashes series.
He’s viewed as a generational talent with the bat, but consistent concussions have thwarted his career. Graf stated that both Cricket Victoria and Pucovski cannot continue as is.
“Prior to this, he (Pucovski) had discussions with the medical staff and they were starting to get worried, obviously so many concussions even though they are minor now,” he continued.
“We’re talking with his management, he’s got to talk to his manager, his dad, and work out where he wants to be and then have a chat with us but from a sports point of view, obviously we’re really worried.
“It’s not just in the short term but the long term, so they’re all the questions we need to look at.
“We can’t go ahead and keep on playing and having to always have someone on standby more or less as a concussion substitute, it does throw the team out as well, so we’ve got to think about how it affects the total structure of our team.
“These are all the hard questions that Will has got to discuss with his dad, his own medical staff and then align that into Cricket Australia’s and Cricket Victoria’s medical staff.”
The Australian’s chief cricket writer Peter Lalor wrote on Saturday that Pucovski had to retire for his health following the incident.
“Commentators don’t have medical degrees but people who do have told us over and over and over that people like Will Pucovski need to be protected from themselves,” Lalor said.
Responding to the prompt that this should be it for Pucovski’s cricket future, Graf was realistic about the situation.
“I’m certainly in the camp that I want to give the lad every chance to play and get it right, because he is such a talent,” he said.
“But there does come a time where you have to realise maybe this isn’t the go, you’ve got to have a rest and got to be able to reassess yourself and work out whether some sort of a long rest would enable you to get back to full health and then hopefully come back onto the game that way.
“Whether that’s the decision I’m not certain, but those are the sort of questions that are being asked now and it’s something we’ve got to discuss with Will later on this week.
“He certainly is one of the most talented young batsman I’ve seen in my time and it’s so sad to see this happening.”
The talented Victorian had previously spoken how he had hoped to be on the plane for Australia’s tour of Pakistan in March, but he wasn’t selected when the squad was announced earlier this month.
At the very least, Pucovski would be long odds to play again this Sheffield Shield season, but he knows that his career is at a crucial juncture.
“He’s realistic, he understands that this is bad and if it keeps going it can’t be good for his health long term,” Graf confirmed.
“He does understand that, but being a young lad he still wants to play.
“It is so frustrating for him because he knows where he could be if he was fit and be able to get through multiple games.
“He’s realistic about it, but he’s still very much in the corner that he wants to keep playing and we’ll support that, however if the medical advice is contrary to that, we need to have a very hard discussion.”
Pucovski made a fifty in the first innings of the clash against South Australia as Victoria grounded out a draw thanks to Peter Handscomb’s 148* in the final innings.
Listen to the full interview with Shaun Graf below