'Enjoying his cricket again': Pucovski set for Shield return

Victoria are optimistic Will Pucovski is well placed to handle his return to top-flight cricket as the star batter's return to first-class cricket after a year-long absence was all but confirmed.

While a broken thumb sustained while wicketkeeping in a club stint in England has sidelined Pucovski from the start of the Marsh One-Day Cup season, Victoria are set to name the one-Test prodigy to face Western Australia next week in their Sheffield Shield final rematch at the WACA Ground. 

Facing concussion and mental-health concerns, Pucovski has had what he has described as "tumultuous couple of years". He played just twice for Victoria last summer but is now coming off an encouraging run of cricket at club level.

He won a Premier Cricket title with Melbourne Cricket Club in April before an 18-game stint for Weybridge in London, averaging above 50, over the winter.

It has those close to Pucovski confident he is ready for his return to more intense cricket.

"Playing those seven or eight games at the back-end of last year and winning the premiership … it seemed like he was really enjoying his cricket again," Pucovski's close friend and Melbourne teammate Sam Harper told cricket.com.au on Friday.

"Going to England, just the continuity of that, playing again four weeks later (after the Premier final) and playing the whole winter, and now hopefully coming back and playing next week, he's looking to just keep playing cricket.

"Hopefully this is the start of a good run."

Pucovski is understood to have gotten through a warm-up match for Melbourne at Carlton’s Princes Park on Friday in good shape, with Victoria coach Chris Rogers telling cricket.com.au: "All going well he'll get through that and he should be right to go for that (Shield) game in Perth.

"To have someone like him coming to your side is amazing. It's exciting because you know how good he is and it's been a stuttered few years," Rogers said after Victoria went top of the Marsh Cup standings with a 59-run win over NSW at the Junction Oval.

"But he's been really positive. He had a really good time in England where he was playing non-stop. He's been working through his issues and he seems like he's ready to go.

"We know there's going to be some challenges along the way, we don't think it's going to be necessarily just smooth sailing.

"But we're really hopeful that here on it's going to be really positive."

It is unclear where Pucovski will bat in his return.

The right-hander could resume his opening partnership with fringe Test batter Marcus Harris, though Victoria will have a middle-order spot to fill with Matthew Short to remain in India as a World Cup reserve. 

The opening Sheffield Shield rounds are set to put the returns of top-order batters in the spotlight given the impending retirement of David Warner, with whom Pucovski opened during his solitary Test appearance against India in January 2021.

Pucovski told cricket.com.au earlier this year that a return to the Baggy Green is a major motivating factor for him, but Australia and Victoria officials want to take baby steps.

Rogers, the former Test opener who played for multiple county sides, said of Pucovski's recent UK stint: "The cricket itself, that's not necessarily what you go for, it's for the life skills, to be in different environments, to be around different people, those relationships,

"Just even finding your way around, all those kinds of things. I think that was invaluable in my career.

"We're supportive if they want to go do that, because with performance there's a strong element of maturity that needs to be in that and something like going to England is good for that."

Western Australia, who have defeated Victoria in the past two Shield finals, could welcome back allrounder Aaron Hardie from international duties next week but will remain without the likes of Cameron Green, Josh Inglis and Mitch Marsh.