Pucovski announces retirement from cricket due to concussion

Will Pucovski has announced his retirement from cricket due to concussion saying it was a "humongous disappointment that is hard to deal with".

Pucovski, 27, played one Test in 2021 against India and had been touted as a long-term mainstay at the top of the order in the Australia Test team having dominated first-class cricket for Victoria from a young age.

But Pucovski's career has been cut short due to his long-term concussion issues. He had not played since March 2024 when he suffered a severe concussion after he was hit by Tasmania's Riley Meredith in a Sheffield Shield game.

An independent medical panel was convened to assess Pucovski's future last year after the number of concussions that he had in his sporting career were estimated in the mid-teens dating back to his first head knock while playing Australian rules football as a teenager.

That panel recommended Pucovski retire from the game although he took some time to make a decision while there has also been an negotiations with Cricket Australia on his contract, insurance and potential lost earnings which have yet to be concluded.

Pucovski went on SEN radio in Melbourne on Tuesday to announce he would not play cricket again.

"I wish I was coming in maybe under better circumstances," Pucovski said. "I'm not going to be playing cricket again. It's been a really difficult year to put it as simply as possible.

"I'd need a few hours, I think, to take you through the whole journey…but the simple message is I won't be playing cricket at any level again."

Pucovski said the decision was particularly hard given he felt he was back on track in the 2023-24 season, having played the most first-class games in a season that he ever had and having made a century in his second last match against New South Wales.

"After that century in Sydney, I thought from a personal point of view things were starting to click for me," he said. "I put a mountain of effort into getting things right off the field to be good on the field.

"It had always been my dream to play for Australia, I found myself in that position in 2021. My ambition didn't stop there. I wanted to be that guy that was a leader of the batting unit. I wanted to play 100 Tests.

"Unfortunately, one Test is where it ends."

Pucovski detailed the difficulties he had last year following the latest concussion. He revealed the symptoms lasted longer than he had ever experienced before and it made for the toughest year of his life to-date.

"In the couple of months post that [last concussion] I struggled to get anything done, walking around the house was a struggle," he said. "My fiancée was annoyed because I didn't contribute to chores. I was sleeping a lot.

"From there 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."

Despite the recommendation of the medical panel for Pucovski to retire last year he did not want to make anything official until he had exhausted all possible scenarios that might give him a chance to play again.

"In my head, I didn't want to make an official call until I was symptom-free," Pucovski said. "When you're struggling it's hard to make a huge decision. The medical panel recommended I retire and that was really difficult to come to terms with. I felt like I was coming over the hill with a few things.

"Technically you can't make anyone retire from anything...it got made clear to me it was a strong recommendation but the final decision ultimately was up to me.

"Since then I have spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to find answers, trying to understand what the brain injury is that I have and why have I had all these problems.

"There probably wasn't a moment that I thought 'This is the day' but things haven't changed. I wanted to hold on to the dream as long as I could but the flip side to that is you want to feel better and live your life normally.

"I just don't want to risk doing any more damage to my brain than I've already done."

Pucovski revealed that the retirement is not the end of his journey with the symptoms. He is still battling issues that will remain in his life for years to come.

"It's complicated," Pucovski said. "There's the mental health symptoms which is one part of it. Then there's the fatigue, which is quite bad, I get regular headaches.

"I really struggle with things on my left side. If I have things happening in my left I feel sick and dizzy. I struggle with motion sickness.

"At 27, I have so much ahead of me and I have so many things I want to achieve in my life. I wanted to play another 15 years and that gets taken away which is bad enough. At least I know I won't get hit in the head again, but when the symptoms are ongoing, it's frightening.

"I know what I was like before these concussions and I know what I am now. My family and friends have noticed a difference in me and that's scary for me and for them."

Pucovski said he will remain involved in the game. He has already committed to taking the head coach role with his Victoria Premier club Melbourne for season 2025-26. He has previously done some television commentary and may return to that at some point.

Overall in first-class cricket, Pucovski scored 2350 runs at 45.19 with seven centuries, three of which were doubles.