Pucovski retires hurt after nasty second-ball head knock

Will Pucovski's horrible run of head knocks has continued after the Victoria batter was forced to retire hurt following another nasty blow in the Marsh Sheffield Shield match in Hobart.

Pucovski was substituted out of the Vics' match against Tasmania having been visibly ill after a Riley Meredith bouncer struck him on just the second delivery he faced in the game's fourth innings at Blundstone Arena.

The right-hander came into bat at No.3 after a 178-run opening partnership. The knock to what looked to be the side of his helmet came after he turned his head on a short ball bowled by Meredith, one of the quickest bowlers in the country.

It left him in distress as Cricket Australia's on-duty doctor attended to him.

He was eventually able to walk off the ground, but his involvement in the match is over given his long history of concussions.

"Will is currently in the hands of our medical professionals," a Cricket Victoria spokesperson said. "We'll look to provide an update in due course."

Reserve batter Campbell Kellaway was padded up not long after Pucovski retired and was later activated as Victoria's concussion substitute as they chase 442 in a crucial top-of-the-table Shield contest against the Tigers.

Pucovski had hoped to have turned the corner on the string of concussion and mental-health issues that have halted what seemed an inevitable rise to becoming a star international cricketer.

The 26-year-old has been hit in the head close to a dozen times, the latest coming in a second XI match in January that delayed his return to the Shield last month.

"To be honest, that was probably the first time I'd been hit and I didn't feel overly stressed by it. I just thought, OK, it is what it is," he told SEN recently.

Pucovski then sent a telling reminder of his immense talent last month when he scored his seventh first-class century in the Vics' clash with NSW at the SCG.

Even more so than the concussions he has suffered, the mental health struggles Pucovski has battled have been a greater concern for the right-hander who played one Test against India in January 2021.

Speaking on the Vic State Cricket podcast recently, Pucovski admitted he had considered retiring.

"Bloody close, very, very close (to giving it away)," he said.

"It'd gotten to the stage where I'd had discussions with people saying, 'yeah, I think this is it'. I was sort of comfortable that I'd given it everything.

"I'd had a week to think about it and I hadn't changed my mind and, to a degree, being happier in every day life made me want to give it away more because I'm like, 'I've got too much to lose now'.

"I spoke to this person who has worked with me and (they said), 'Will, I've never seen someone try as hard as you to try and get on top of this, bugger this, just retire, you've tried so hard, you've given it everything'.

"They said that to me and I was like, 'I'll go one more, I've got one more crack in me'.

"I had some discussions with psych(ologists) and they gave me these other solutions which have really done the job. It's just been one of those things where I was pretty close but I'm glad I didn't."

Sheffield Shield 2023-24 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Drawn D	No results N/R	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Bowling Bonus Bowl	Total points PTS
1 Western Australia Men WA	10	5	2	3	0	0	5.53	9.4	47.93
2 Tasmanian Tigers Men TAS	10	5	2	3	0	0	6.06	8.3	47.36
3 NSW Men NSW	10	4	3	3	0	0	6.31	9	42.31
4 Victoria Men VIC	10	4	4	2	0	0	4.74	8.2	38.94
5 South Australia Men SA	10	3	6	1	0	0	5.19	9.3	33.49
6 Queensland Bulls QLD	10	2	6	2	0	0	3.54	8.3	25.84

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

D: Drawn

N/R: No results

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

Bowl: Bowling Bonus

PTS: Total points