Who Is Will Pucovski? Australian Batter Announces Retirement At 27 Due To Concussion

Will Pucovski, once touted as the future of Australian batting, has announced his retirement from all forms of professional cricket at just 27. His career was repeatedly derailed by concussions and mental health challenges.

The decision to walk away from the game follows medical advice after Pucovski suffered another serious concussion during a Sheffield Shield match in March 2024. Struck on the helmet by a bouncer, he was forced to retire hurt and missed the remainder of the Australian summer.

A medical panel, reviewing his long history of head injuries, recommended that he step away from competitive cricket for the sake of his long-term well-being.

Pucovski’s cricket journey began with extraordinary promise. Representing Victoria in Under-19 cricket, he struck four centuries in a single national championship. This achievement elevated him into senior domestic contention.

In 2017, he made his List A debut in a tour game against Pakistan. This was followed by a Sheffield Shield debut in the same season. He smashed 188 against Queensland in just his second Shield appearance. 

But just two games later, his career took a worrying turn. A blow to the head from a bouncer in a match against New South Wales forced him to exit the field with concussion — his first in what would become a persistent and troubling trend.

Despite the setbacks, Pucovski’s talent shone through. In the opening match of the 2018-19 Shield season, he etched his name into the record books by scoring 243 against Western Australia at the WACA. In doing so, he became only the eighth Australian to register a double century in Shield cricket before turning 21, joining a list that includes Don Bradman, Ricky Ponting and Ian Chappell.

But behind the on-field brilliance, Pucovski was grappling with mental health issues that became apparent during the match in which he scored that double ton. He subsequently took a six-week break from cricket to recover. After returning late in the season and posting strong numbers, national selectors brought him into the Test squad for the Sri Lanka series in 2019. But he was left out of the playing XI, and during the Canberra Test, he exited the squad altogether to focus on his mental health.

Even so, he remained a key figure in Victoria’s setup, helping the side clinch the Sheffield Shield title. He finished the 2018-19 season with 649 runs at an average of 54.08 from just seven matches. His consistency earned him spots in both the one-day and four-day Australia A squads touring England later that year.

Late in 2019, Pucovski again stepped back from Test selection due to mental health reasons. But during the COVID-hit 2020-21 season, his form became impossible to ignore. Back-to-back centuries for Victoria reignited national hopes, and he was finally handed a Test debut against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground. showed poise and promise, scoring a gritty 62 in the first innings. But he suffered a shoulder injury during the match that ruled him out for the rest of the series. His career was once again put on pause.

By the time he was struck on the helmet again in early 2024, it marked yet another chapter in what had become a recurring and deeply concerning pattern. Over the course of his brief career, Pucovski is believed to have suffered more than a dozen concussions — an extraordinary number for any athlete.

Talking about his decision to retire from professional cricket, Will Pucovski said, as quoted by sen.com.au, "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. I’ve only just turned 27, the space of concussion is very young. Speaking to a lot of specialists, this is a difficult space to deal with."

"The technology isn’t quite there to understand what is what. When you have symptoms for over a year and I’ve had others for numerous years, it can be quite difficult to see how can I get out to play professional sport again when I’m struggling to live my life how I want to," he added.

In 36 first-class matches, Will Pucovski scored 2350 runs at an average of 45.19. The Aussie batter scored seven centuries and nine half-centuries. Pucovski played his lone Test against India in 2021. He scored 72 runs in the two innings of the match.