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Pucovski may undergo shoulder surgery

3 minute read

Will Pucovski's shoulder injury is still a painful concern for the young batsman, who is weighing up whether to undergo surgery.

WILL PUCOVSKI of Victoria.
WILL PUCOVSKI of Victoria. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Young batsman Will Pucovski may yet require surgery to fix the shoulder injury that forced him to miss last month's Test series decider in Brisbane.

Pucovski made a promising debut for Australia in the drawn SCG Test then was an enforced omission in Brisbane, where he failed a pre-match fitness test.

Pucovski was picked in Australia's squad for the Test tour of South Africa, which has been postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the 23-year-old, who initially decided to not go under the knife, remains bothered by the partially-dislocated shoulder.

Victoria coach Chris Rogers revealed Pucovski, having tried to bat in the nets on Thursday, is still "quite sore" and yet to decide his next step forward in recovery.

"The shoulder hasn't responded to rehab as well as he would have liked it to," Rogers said.

"So he is probably really considering that option of surgery. He will go and talk to the relevant people.

"He will be getting a lot of advice from different people, so I think that will probably become a little bit clearer over the next week or two.

"It's hard when you're playing not at 100 per cent. You start to think that's how you are going to play for the rest of your career."

Meanwhile, Rogers likened Test squad member James Pattinson to a "bull at a gate".

Pattinson hasn't played a first-class game since December, while an untimely rib injury ruined his hopes of a Test call-up in Sydney or Brisbane.

Rogers cautioned the express paceman will almost certainly be rested at some point in coming weeks.

"If we look at the schedule and project the number of overs they might bowl on average, we have to manage him and the other bowlers as well," Rogers said.

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