Six weeks on from his latest concussion, Will Pucovski is still suffering symptoms

2 weeks ago 15

Will Pucovski is yet to afloat shingle disconnected the symptoms of his latest concussion, delaying the gathering of a aesculapian sheet to assistance determine connected his aboriginal successful the game.

Cricket Victoria was this week fixed peculiar dispensation by Cricket Australia to clasp disconnected connected a determination connected whether to connection Pucovski, 1 of the brightest batting prospects successful the country, a declaration for adjacent summer, with each authorities squads meant to beryllium finalised by the extremity of adjacent week.

Will Pucovski was deed connected the helmet batting for Victoria connected March 3 – the 12th clip he’s been diagnosed with concussion.

Pucovski, 26, is inactive reporting immoderate effects from the stroke to the helmet helium suffered successful a Sheffield Shield crippled against Tasmania successful aboriginal March, though successful the past week, determination person been signs of improvement.

This has meant that, according to 2 manufacture sources with cognition of the concern who could not remark due to the fact that the discussions are private, a aesculapian sheet comprised of Cricket Victoria, Cricket Australia and autarkic experts is yet to convene with Pucovski to measure his concern and representation a way forward. CV declined to comment.

This week, Collingwood premiership defender Nathan Murphy – a person of Pucovski who played alongside him astatine Melbourne Cricket Club – was forced to discontinue from football due to the fact that of the effects of concussion, the astir caller sustained successful past year’s AFL expansive final.

The aesculapian panel’s deliberations are pivotal to Pucovski’s future, arsenic they were 2 years agone erstwhile helium was yet cleared to instrumentality to play aft a caput sound suffered successful a Shield lucifer against South Australia.

In part, that determination was made due to the fact that the panellists concluded that galore of Pucovski’s erstwhile concussions had not, successful fact, been concussions, but were alternatively intertwined with intelligence wellness issues that had evolved astir knocks to the caput that began erstwhile helium played inferior football.

“The panel’s overwhelming decision was that immoderate of the erstwhile injuries sustained had progressive debased trauma unit and truthful were astir apt not existent concussion, but a signifier of either post-traumatic migraine oregon stress-related response,” the 2022 sheet said.

Pucovski made a akin appraisal himself astatine the clip of his instrumentality to the Victorian Shield broadside past summer.

“The concussions person masked the bigger issues and that’s the intelligence wellness stuff,” Pucovski told Adam White connected a Cricket Victoria podcast earlier this year. “The intelligence wellness has been a overmuch bigger contented for maine than adjacent the concussions. I don’t fearfulness for my semipermanent health, it’s much the intelligence wellness broadside that’s been the tougher part.”

Will Pucovski celebrates his archetypal period since 2020.

In Sydney successful February, Pucovski played his archetypal crippled astatine the SCG since helium made his Test debut connected the aforesaid ground, scoring a half-century and past injuring his shoulder, successful January 2021.

His composition of a stirring period successful that game was origin for wide optimism that Pucovski could 1 time instrumentality to the Test side, peculiarly astatine a clip erstwhile the nationalist selectors are compelled to look to the aboriginal pursuing David Warner’s retirement.

But the stroke to the caput successful Hobart, erstwhile Pucovski appeared to suffer show of a abbreviated shot hurled down by the accelerated Riley Meredith, returned him to the centre of 1 of cricket's astir hard conversations.

In the aftermath of the hit, Pucovski laic connected the crushed for immoderate clip being attended by aesculapian unit earlier dilatory getting to his feet and walking from the crushed unassisted.

Former Australian and Tasmanian skipper Tim Paine, who captained Pucovski successful his solitary Test match, was acrophobic by what helium saw.

“I was watching that live, it wasn’t bully to watch,” helium said connected SEN. “Hopefully he’s OK, archetypal and foremost. But I deliberation it is concerning it keeps happening, and I deliberation present is astir apt the clip him and his radical astir volition person to person a superior speech connected what’s adjacent and which mode helium is going to onslaught it.

“I don’t emotion talking astir it, I deliberation everyone knows the contented determination and unluckily it keeps happening, helium keeps getting deed successful the head. He’s got immoderate concussion issues which we’re seeing much and much successful each sports, chiefly interaction sports, but surely successful cricket successful the past 4 oregon 5 years it’s go overmuch much of an issue.”

Murphy retired from the AFL aged lone 24 aft 57 games, having struggled to retrieve from the effects of a caput sound helium suffered during past year’s expansive last against the Brisbane Lions.

“It’s a precise hard one, isn’t it? I truly consciousness for Will and his family,” erstwhile Australia squad doc Peter Brukner said aft Pucovski’s latest hit. “You get each the investigating done and the champion aesculapian advice, but determination comes a clip truly wherever you’ve got to think, ‘When is enough, enough’.”

News, results and adept investigation from the play of athletics sent each Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.