Australian opener announces shock retirement at the age of 27

Australia Test opener Will Pucovski has announced his sudden retirement from all forms of cricket due to concussion. It’s important to note that Pucovski has had a series of concussion incidents during his brief career.

Interestingly, the latest incident of concussion took place in March 2024 during a Sheffield Shield match, sidelining him for the remainder of the Australian summer. This episode also led him to pull his contract with Leicestershire for the England summer in 2024.

"I wish I was coming in under better circumstances. I'm not going to be playing cricket again. It's been a really difficult year to put it as simply as possible. The simple message is, I won't be playing at any level again," Pucovski said on SEN Whateley.

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

Interestingly, a medical panel also recommended Will to retire from the game last year. Notably, he made his Test debut against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in the 2020-21 season, which was his sole Test appearance for Australia. He went on to score 62 and 10 runs in that game.

Though Pucovski will not play the game, he will remain in cricket as the head coach of Premier Cricket team Melbourne Cricket Club, where he made his first XI debut as a teen in the 2014-15 summer.

"It's definitely something that I'm really passionate about. I'm going to be coaching the MCC (Melbourne Cricket Club) next year, which is really exciting. It's always felt like a second home to me and I've always felt the love and support from the MCC while playing at higher levels or playing for them,” he stated.

“I've been around there since I was 11 or 12 with their junior academy and all the way through. Coaching is always something that I've always wanted to scratch that itch with. I'm really excited to give that a go and see where it takes me," he concluded.

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