Ex-Australia Test prodigy who was tipped for stardom launches legal action after retirement
Former Australia Test opener Will Pucovski has reportedly launched legal action following his retirement from cricket last year at the age of 27.
The Victorian right-hander was tipped as a future international star from a young age, with cricket writer Adam Collins noting in 2016 that he could 'become a very big deal on the senior stage, and soon'.
During a Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia in 2018, he became the youngest Australian since Ricky Ponting to hit a first-class double century when he scored 243 not out.
At that time, Australia's Test team was still seeking to fill a gap at the top of the order alongside David Warner after Chris Rogers' retirement and Cameron Bancroft's ban for his part in the ball-tampering scandal.
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By January 2019, Pucovski had been named in the Test squad, though Marcus Harris and Joe Burns were preferred to open for the two Tests against Sri Lanka.
But he returned home midway through the second Test in Canberra due to mental health issues, with Cricket Australia's doctor stating he had 'reported some challenges over the past few days'.
Two years later, he made his long-awaited Test debut against India at Sydney, scoring a composed 62 off 110 balls in Australia's first innings.
You would have forgiven Australian selectors for thinking that, in 22-year-old Pucovski, they had finally found a solution to their long-standing opener problem.
Sadly, the right-hander never played another international match for Australia.
He suffered a shoulder injury while fielding in India's second innings which ultimately required reconstructive surgery, ruling him out of the rest of the series.
Then, during the Sheffield Shield season, he suffered a concussion after being struck on the head in February 2022, and took an indefinite break from cricket in October.
Pucovski's history of concussions dates back to his time at high school, and his February 2022 concussion was the 11th that he had suffered during his cricket career.
He was hit on the head again shortly after his return to action in 2024. While he was able to return to action relatively quickly, another concussion caused by a short ball in October of that year meant he never played another first-class match.
Last year, Pucovski announced his retirement from cricket due to the effects of his concussion symptoms, with the decision having been recommended by medical experts.
He told radio station SEN that he had 'struggled to get anything done' in the 'couple of months' after his most recent concussion, and admitted that he had even struggled to walk around his house.
Now, it has been reported that Pucovski has submitted legal action against his former school, Brighton Grammar School - which is where he suffered his first known concussion.
Pucovski's management told The Age that he has launched legal action at Victoria's Supreme Court.
He alleges, the report says, that 'the elite private school mishandled the first of what became a career-ending series of concussions'.
It is alleged that he was concussed in a tackle during a Australian football training session in 2014, with lawyers claiming he was allowed to keep training and did not receive proper medical attention.
Speaking to SEN after his retirement announcement, Pucovski said last year: "It's unfortunately gotten to a stage now where, a year or so down the track, still suffering. Still don't really have the answers I have been looking for in terms of why I am still getting these symptoms, and it's come time to make this decision.
"When the symptoms are ongoing, it's pretty frightening.
"The technology isn't quite there to understand what is what. When you have symptoms for over a year - and I've had others for numerous years - it can be quite difficult to see how I can get out to play professional sport again when I'm struggling to live my life how I want to.
"The hard bit to come to terms with, to a degree as well, is I know what I was like before I suffered these concussions, and I know what I'm like now."
He previously said that the concussions were 'definitely linked' to his mental health issues.
"One day I'll be ready to tell my whole story and it will probably make a lot more sense," he stated.
"I've explained what I've been through to my inner circle of people and, actually, all the responses I've got have been like, 'Jesus, I would never have guessed that in a million years, that doesn't even make sense to me'."
Now 28, the former Australia opener has stayed in cricket as a coach with Melbourne Cricket Club, where he played before joining Victoria's senior ranks.
He made a guest appearance on Channel 7's coverage of the first Test between Australia and Bangladesh in Darwin earlier this month.
Ryan Smart