Search

show me:

Pucovski finds focus in cricket routine

3 minute read

Will Pucovski admits he wasn't ready for Test cricket last summer when he missed selection, but is on the up while working closely with a mindfulness coach.

WILL PUCOVSKI of the Bushrangers looks on during the JLT One Day Cup match between Victoria and Western Australia at WACA in Perth, Australia.
WILL PUCOVSKI of the Bushrangers looks on during the JLT One Day Cup match between Victoria and Western Australia at WACA in Perth, Australia. Picture: Will Russell/Getty Images

Will Pucovski admits he wasn't ready for Test cricket when he was called into Australia's squad last summer before missing selection.

Widely considered one of the country's best young talents, Pucovski has spent the past nine months working with a mindfulness coach after a rollercoaster summer.

He starred early in the season for Victoria, took indefinite leave for a mental health issue and then returned to be picked in Australia's Test squad against Sri Lanka.

But he was usurped by Kurtis Patterson and subsequently released from the squad to manage his wellbeing.

"Upon reflection it was probably a good thing I didn't get picked," Pucovski said.

"I probably wasn't quite ready at the time. Things work out in funny ways and I am definitely better off for the experience.

"It was a great couple of weeks and a great learning curve."

The 21-year-old has been working with his life coach Emma Murray for nine months.

Central to his development is a desire to develop routines both before matches and between balls while at the crease in a bid to take extra emotion out of his game.

"We're just trying to make it as much of an object of game as you can," Pucovski said.

"Going 'alright if I just apply my best execution, my process to every single ball of every single game' then you are giving yourself the best chance to succeed.

"It's more about that because it can be quite an emotionally driven game as a batsman.

"You can have some level of emotion but going back to what can I control and focus on."

Pucovski is confident it's working, having scored a half-century in his first hit of the Australia A tour of England this week.

The right-hander remains a chance to push for Australia's Ashes squad as one of several options for No.6.

"You are going to fail a lot in cricket, that happens," Pucovski said.

"But if I am consistent in how I go about it I am giving myself the best chance to succeed.

"It's probably just freed me up a bit. I'm not going to base if I failed or succeeded on a personal level just on my result, but how I went about it."

Meanwhile Pucovski is also confident he has beaten any issues with the short ball, after having suffered seven concussions so early in his career.

"It was never really that big of an issue. I wasn't getting out doing it, it was just dumb luck that I got hit a few times," he said.

Think. Is this a bet you really want to place?

For free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit www.gamblinghelponline.org.au