Will Pucovski withdraws from Test reckoning due to mental health issues

Will Pucovski has made himself unavailable for selection in Australia’s Test squad in order to deal with his mental health issues. Consequently, the right-handed batsman was not included in the squad for the upcoming home series against Pakistan. He was in contention for a spot in the team after a solid start to the domestic season.

In four Sheffield Shield games so far, the Victoria batman registered one fifty and one century. Pucovski informed Australia A team management he was struggling on Tuesday evening in Perth. He made his decision just hours after failing with the bat for Australia A against Pakistan in the tour game. The 21-year old managed just 5 as the tourists bowled out Australia A for just 122.

Pucovski, nonetheless, has a history of mental health-related issues. In the past, he had taken two breaks to deal with his mental health. Last summer, the youngster had walked away from the game once while representing Victoria and then during the Canberra Test against Sri Lanka where he was a non-playing member of the squad.

Pucovski is the third Australian player who has taken mental health leave in the last few days. Before him, Australia star Glenn Maxwell and Nic Maddinson had also stepped away from the game to deal with their own mental health issues. All the three players, meanwhile, are receiving full support from Cricket Australia as they look to bounce back.

“We applaud Will for having the courage to discuss his situation with team management in Perth,” national team’s manager Ben Oliver said. “Will’s decision not to nominate for Test selection was the right one in the circumstances and one that everyone in the Australian cricket family supports.

Will Pucovski optimistic

Will Pucovski, meanwhile, is optimistic about his present condition. The highly-rated batsman said that he is in a much better position at the moment than last summer. He also said that he is looking forward to the rest of the summer and is optimistic that he is taking all the right steps.

“I’m going well,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of structures in place, which is really good. I can count on them when the time comes. It’s an ongoing thing that I’m trying to improve as much as I can, as often as I can.

“I’m really looking forward to the summer ahead, which is good and probably a different view from 12 months ago. When you compare the two, you go, ‘I’m in a pretty good place compared to where I was 12 months ago’, which means I’m doing everything right in that field,” he added.

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