Will Pucovski won’t be in Australia’s Test squad to face Pakistan when it is announced later today, with the young Victorian batsman requesting he not be considered for selection due to mental wellbeing reasons.
The 21-year-old, who had been tipped to be included in the 14-man squad, informed team management of his decision in Perth on Tuesday evening and it was agreed he could finish Australia A’s three-day tour game against Pakistan.
Pucovski took a similar step earlier this year when picked in Australia’s squad for the two Tests against Sri Lanka, withdrawing from that series due to mental health reasons, and also took a break from domestic cricket earlier in the 2018-19 domestic season.
Cricket Australia released a statement on Thursday morning supporting the Victorian’s decision, describing it as “the right one in the circumstances”.
“We applaud Will for having the courage to discuss his situation with team management in Perth,” Cricket Australia general manager of national teams 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.
“Mental health is a complex issue that unfortunately impacts many young men and women in our society. By Will bravely taking this position, he will undoubtedly inspire others facing similar challenges to speak up and take positive steps towards improving their mental wellbeing.
“The most important thing now is for Will to be given the time, space and expert support that he needs to return to full health as soon as possible.”
Pucovski is now the third Australian cricketer to take a break from the sport to focus on his mental health this summer, with state teammates Glenn Maxwell and Nic Maddinson making similar decisions in the past few weeks.
(AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)
With Pucovski out of the selection frame for now, Travis Head is all but certain to regain his place in Australia’s middle order for the opening Test against Pakistan, while it’s also been reported that Joe Burns and Cameron Bancroft will be in the squad.
After missing out on selection for the Ashes, Burns has hardly had a standout Sheffield Shield season and failed to impress for Australia A, making a golden duck and 11 in his two innings in Perth.
However, with the Sydney Morning Herald reporting the Queenslander has been picked in the squad, Burns looks set to partner David Warner at the top of the order next week.
Bancroft has also had a poor Shield season to date, and was only picked for the A side after Maddinson’s withdrawal. But a fighting 49 in the first innings, in which he top scored and was last man out, has apparently been enough to seal a spot in the squad, although he appears likely to only be used in the case of Australia needing a concussion substitute.
If Head, Burns and Bancroft are indeed the three batsmen picked in addition to David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith and Matthew Wade, it means Usman Khawaja and Marcus Harris will be the unlucky ones to miss out.
Harris could only manage scores of 16 and 20 for Australia A, while Khawaja fared slightly better, a first-innings six mitigated by an unbeaten 37 in the second dig.
The Herald is also reporting Michael Neser is likely to be the fifth fast bowler picked, joining Victorian James Pattinson and the New South Wales trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
With Cummins, Hazlewood and spinner Nathan Lyon nigh-on certainties to play at the Gabba, it leaves Neser as a long shot to make his Test debut, with the more likely scenario being Starc and Pattinson fighting it out for the final spot in the XI.
Reported Australian Test squad
Tim Paine (c), Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Travis Head, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner.
The Roar encourages all readers who may be suffering from mental illness to seek support from organisations such as Lifeline, Beyond Blue or Headspace.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Yes, it was pretty standard in times past that you had the "next man in" being the 12th man (more often than not it was another fast bowler though) ended up being 12th man constantly and missed lots of cricket because of it. Andy Bichel did it for ages, Brett Lee was that 12th man for a fair while also in a similar situation. It's a more recent thing that players would be selected in the squad, then released to go play some domestic cricket, while just having some local "specialist fielders" around the side to do any sub-fielding required. That might have to change with this rule and go back to having players around the group and missing domestic cricket to be available. Alternately, the other option is for domestic cricket featuring some of the contenders be played at other local grounds (Allan Border field, Junction Oval, Drummoyne Oval etc, places like that, still reasonably local) while the test is being played, so that players can be quickly rushed out of those games if required. (Provides a domino effect of then having to draft in a replacement in the first class game, but that happens, I remember when playing grade cricket having players go up and down grades mid-match because of players going off to play state cricket). It's quite probable that if a concussion sub happens that it's at least a few hours monitoring a player before making the call, so probably you are looking at overnight (hence concussion subs aren't really valid for white ball cricket), so they could potentially get someone on the next flight in if it came to that and have someone available within a few hours. It's not ideal, and it's harder in a larger country like Australia, but unless you are talking to or from Perth, it's probably doable.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Must admit, I haven't followed it since the point I was watching. Whichever batsman it was, he was hit hard and was down for quite a while. The commentators were certain it would be a sub, but perhaps he went off, was assessed as OK and came back on? Not sure. But yes, it's quite bizarre to have even two actual subs. It's really going to throw up some challenges to provide on-hand cover. One issue is, if it's the batsman/batsmen "next in line" for Test selection (or even bowlers if they get hit) and there is a few of them sitting on the sidelines, then they're not actually playing domestic cricket to further push their case for starting XI. Perhaps Bancroft was selected as sub-cover specifically because he wasn't seen as next in line? Though not that there was any domestic FC this Test, but next Test there is so will be interesting to see.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Really? I hadn't heard about that. I just checked the scorecards and could see two innings in which 12 batsmen played, with a retired hurt in each. So that's definitely 2. Don't know about the third. Pretty incredible though. I always thought that bringing in concussion substitutes would still mean they wouldn't happen all that often, after all, it's not that common someone actually becomes concust in a game of cricket. But it's amazing how many times they have been employed in just the 6 months since the introduction of them.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Looks like we have had THREE Bangladesh concussion subs in just the one Test series going on right now. Is it actually out of control?
Pierro
Roar Rookie
Interesting John I didn't know a lot of what you mentioned in this last post . Hopefully we can sing his praises in a few years together
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
Yes, he has had a run of low scores, but that can happen. A bigger concern for me is his history of concussions, meaning he may have some trouble against the short stuff. His dismissal in the Australia A game was from a good pill but not the treacherous delivery his shot made it appear to be. Too early to be in the running for a test spot, in my opinion, but I can understand why some people have him in the mix. Happy to give him time and see where his future takes him. Jason Sangha is another young player with big raps. I am not sure the media hype does these young players any favours, but it does flag players to keep an eye on, I guess.
Pierro
Roar Rookie
John Im keen to see what he can do but his last five scores of 5, 3 , 7 , 0, 2 are not really inconsistent , they are consistent blips in the shield arena and on home soil to pakistan and arose when he found tougher pitches. One thing I like is how he scrapped slowly to his 64 at Perth before that. Lets give him some time and I do hope he becomes something for the test team
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
Fair points but as I said, his ability to go big when set makes him a brighter prospect than most of the young hopefuls. As for his century on the St Kilda road, I hadn't counted it as a big hundred given it was a mere 123. Not many 21 year olds have put such big numbers on the scoreboard, so it should be easily understandable why he has some focus on him. As for his inconsistency, it is something he needs to improve, but the same can be said for 99.5% of batsmen currently playing domestic cricket.
Pierro
Roar Rookie
Hes talented John but one of those centuries was on a batting road where everyone made centuries at st kilda last month . He went well but slowly first innings at WA but his fails since have been really bad single figures for most part in 5 innings or so and many were in front of him. The two big knocks have got him in a spotlight per se though but its inflated right now due to all the fails as others point out
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
I think the spotlight on Pucovski is largely due to his ability to make big hundreds. That sets him apart from most. Shield scores of 188 and 243 and 207* in a U23 championship in the last 18 months alone, should have people watching him.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
Funny how for decades we used the number six batting spot for that very thing. Allowing young stars to find their feet at the highest level. Some of our great test batsmen from the past 40 years, served their apprenticeship down the order early in their career. In recent years, our selectors' obsession with a test allrounder hasn't allowed our young batsmen that luxury.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
I agree about Joe Burns despite his 4 test hundreds opening the innings. He just looks perfectly suited to a middle order spot, for me. Finch, in red ball cricket, should never be considered for a test spot unless we start playing tests on concrete pitches.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
Finch's only moments of test form were on the lifeless UAE pitches. Against a moving ball, he looks like a deer in the headlights. This is why his performances in Limited overs and T20 formats are so far superior to his first class performances. When the ball does stuff all off the pitch he can make some runs. However, a moving ball and some fielders in catching positions = struggles for Aaron Finch. Even moreso, if he is at the top of the order.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Oh I agree but I have tried to not consider issues like that because they are something that existed in the past too. I think Brett McKay made the important point that for all we know, players struggled just as much in the past, just they feel comfortable saying when it’s too much today, rather than bottling it up.
DTM
Guest
Excellent points but we also don't know what is going on (or what happened in the past) in the private lives of these people. I know a professional person who suffered immense physical and sexual abuse as a child. That person struggles mentally on a daily basis but very few people know of their history. We put way too much pressure on our public figures and sports stars without having a clue about what else they might be dealing with. Let Will, Nic and Glen take as much time as they need and come back to the game if they choose to.
Barney
Roar Rookie
I think he has run his race poor Will. 3 times now, I fear the opposition will be forever ‘at him’ and he will just keep breaking... very sad. Different to Maxi who was just trolled to breakdown...but will recover
DTM
Guest
Exactly. Daniel Hughes is a better red ball option and hardly anyone has thought of him.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Usain would still do me over in a marathon. Unless the hearse subsequently taking my body to the morgue took the same route.
Kanggas2
Guest
Trevor I work in welfare , when I can get work, but mostly unpaid I can tell you that .,Poverty in Australia is at unprecedented high levels. Cost of living., house prices , stagnant wages . Cost of energy , transport at record high levels . The casualtiastion of the workforce causing massive family disconnect. Nah it’s not a happy and comfortable experience
Pierro
Roar Rookie
Still feel this was a little hard on richardson who is a super tight economy bowler and delivered much better figures in january v sri lanka than starc with better economy rate and more wickets. Whats good on the pace front is starc/neser/pattinson/richardson all have awesome credentials and one could make a case to carefully cherry pick them for each surface this summer. They may want to rest hazel wood in one test or give one a break if there are any strained muscles or back stress issues. I mean by end of summer they don't play much again for 11 months its hardly a stable platform for 11 months time . Im assuming more spinners will need to go to the two test series in bangladesh if the rain doesn't wash it it out at that time of year .