‘Resilient’ Will Pucovski keen to continue on, positive about Ashes return, affirms Chris Rogers

10/21/2021

Victoria coach Chris Rogers has backed Will Pucovski to be ready to feature at the Ashes 2021/22, despite suffering a concussion last week. The 23-year-old was forced to consult his concussion specialist, after suffering a head knock during a throwdowns session during training in Victoria.

Will Pucovski will miss Victoria's first Sheffield Shield match against New South Wales, beginning October 27 at Sydney’s Drummoyne Oval, due to his latest concussion.

Pucovski had dislocated his right shoulder during the New Year’s Test in Sydney against India earlier this year, and was out of action for over six months thereafter. He had undergone reconstructive surgery for the injured shoulder, and was eyeing a return to domestic cricket before suffering a concussion blow.

Victoria head coach Chris Rogers was confident that the 23-year-old will be ready for the side’s next Sheffield Shield game, to be played between Nov 5 and 8, and later for the Ashes series, beginning December 8 in Brisbane.

"It's just probably come a touch too early," Rogers said of Victoria’s Sheffield Shield opener.

"He's been in the last few days and he looks pretty good, so he's targeting the second Shield game.

"He's been through this before, so he knows what it's like and he'll be ready to go.

"He's a pretty resilient guy now - if you go through (this) many setbacks, you have to have something about you. He's going alright. Yesterday when I spoke to him he seemed pretty positive so that's all I can say."

Rogers remarked how Pucovski has made strong comebacks from injuries in the past, and added that he stands a good chance still to make a claim for Ashes selection.

"He's showed before that he can hit the ground running as he did last year in the two Sheffield Shield games when he got two 200s," Rogers said.

"If he was good enough to come and do something like that again, I think the Australian selectors would definitely have something to consider."

This is the 10th time that Pucovski experienced concussion symptoms in a nascent career. Rogers was circumspect about how the multiple knocks could impact the batter’s career.

"That's a good question, nothing I can really answer," he said.

"He sees specialists, so they'll be talking to him about that and obviously that's got to play a role at some stage.

"But at the moment, he's still keen to continue on."