Australian prodigy Will Pucovski, 24, steps away from cricket for a THIRD time

Will Pucovski’s future is once again in doubt after the rising star of Australian cricket opted to take a third indefinite period out of the game.

Cricket Victoria confirmed on Thursday that Pucovski had decided to sit out the upcoming matches, barring him from Sheffield Shield cricket before the test summer.

It is the latest breakthrough in the 24-year-old’s stop-start career, which has been marked by a series of concussions and injuries.

Pucovski had only returned at the start of this season after the 11th concussion in his short career.

His return initially came as part of a cricket academy tour of India in August, before scoring a big century for Victoria’s Second XI in September.

The right-hander scored 0, 9 and 37 in two Sheffield Shield games for Victoria, before not playing for Victoria in the past 50-over games.

He was due to appear on Thursday’s news for Victoria in Hobart on Saturday.

The final decision is not believed to be related to injury.

Cricket Victoria said in a statement that they would support Pucovski and asked for privacy.

‘Player wellbeing is always our top priority; we will continue to work with Will to ensure he has the support and space he needs and welcome him when he is ready,” said high performance manager Graham Manou.

Widely regarded as one of the country’s best emerging talents, Pucovski played just the one test against India in January 2021.

The batter has left for ‘personal reasons’ after scoring big for Victoria last month

He initially took personal leave in October 2018 after announcing himself as a star-to-be a week earlier with a double century against Western Australia for Victoria.

The young prodigy would then join the Australian roster at the start of Summer 2019-2020 before retiring from the fray.

Since then, he has worked closely with his mind coach Emma Murray, repeatedly stating that the fire still burns within him to bolster his lone appearance for Australia.

“You’re going to fail a lot in cricket, it happens,” Pucovski said in an interview about his work with Murray in 2019.

Pucovski, 24, struggled with concussions 11 times during his career

“But if I’m consistent in how I approach it, I give myself the best chance of success.

“It probably set me free a bit. If I personally fail or pass, I don’t just go by my result, but how I went about it.’

Injuries have not helped his case either.

His debut was then expected to come against India in late 2020, but he suffered a nasty concussion in a warm-up match at Drummoyne Oval.

When his debut finally came later that summer, he injured his shoulder diving and was banned from the rest of the season.

There is no timeline for Pucovski’s departure, with Victoria and Australian woman star Meg Lanning also currently out of the sport indefinitely.