William Jan Pucovski (born 2 February 1998) is an Australian

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er. He made his

List A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

debut for

Cricket Australia XI Cricket Australia XI is a domestic cricket team that plays matches against international teams touring Australia. The team formerly played in Australia's JLT Cup limited-overs tournament. Before each tournament, a 14-man squad was selected fro ...

against

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

during their tour of Australia on 10 January 2017. He made his first-class debut for

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in the

2016–17 Sheffield Shield season The 2016–17 Sheffield Shield season was the 115th season of the Sheffield Shield, the domestic first-class cricket competition in Australia. It started on 25 October 2016 and finished on 30 March 2017. There was a break between December and J ...

on 1 February 2017. Pucovski made his international debut for the

Australia cricket team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) a ...

on 7 January 2021, in the third

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

of the series against India.

Early life

Pucovski was born in

Malvern Malvern or Malverne may refer to: Places Australia * Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide * Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne * City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne * Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...

, a suburb of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. His father, Ján Pucovski, who emigrated to Australia as a child from Serbia, has

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

n roots. Ján also played cricket, as a fast bowler, and was regarded as a " Caulfield legend". Pucovski completed school at

Brighton Grammar School , motto_translation = Let us keep pursuing better things , city = Brighton , state = Victoria , zipcode = 3186 , country = Australia , coordinates ...

in 2015, and was captain of the school's First XI and a school prefect. He was awarded the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year at the

Allan Border Medal Awarded during the Australian Cricket Awards, the Allan Border Medal is considered to be the most prestigious individual prize in Australian men's cricket. First awarded in 2000, the medal is named after former Australian men's captain Allan Bor ...

ceremony by

Cricket Australia Cricket Australia (CA), formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Crick ...

in 2019.

Cricket career

In the 2016-17 Under 19 National Championships, Pucovski scored four consecutive hundreds on his way to being named Player of the Championship and totalling 650 runs from eight innings, breaking the long-standing runs record held by Queensland's Jerry Cassel (568) since 1993–94. In March 2018, he suffered a second concussion from

bouncers A bouncer (also known as a doorman or door supervisor) is a type of security guard, employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs, cabaret clubs, stripclubs, casinos, hotels, billiard halls, restaurants, sporting events, schools, concerts, ...

in two years, the second of which was bowled by

Sean Abbott Sean Anthony Abbott (born 29 February 1992) is an Australian professional cricketer originally from Windsor in New South Wales who has represented his country internationally. After playing in junior cricket for Baulkham Hills Cricket Club, he ...

. Pucovski was well enough to walk off the field unaided. In October 2018, he became only the second player representing

in the

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...

, after Dean Jones, to hit a double century against the

Western Australia cricket team The Western Australian Men’s cricket team, formerly nicknamed the Western Warriors, represent the Australian state of Western Australia in Australian domestic cricket. The team is selected and supported by the Western Australian Cricket Asso ...

at the WACA. Totalling 243 not out, Pucovski became just the ninth player in Sheffield Shield history to score a double-century before his 21st birthday. However, later the same month, he announced he would be taking a break from cricket due to a mental health-related illness. In January 2019, he was named in Australia's

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

squad for the series against Sri Lanka. After being named in the squad for the Test series, Pucovski said that it's every kid's dream to play for their country, and that getting that opportunity was "just amazing". However, he was not selected to play in either match during the series, and was released from the squad at the start of the Canberra Test, allowing him to continue to work on his mental health. Ahead of the

2019–20 Marsh One-Day Cup The 2019 Marsh One-Day Cup was the 51st season of the official List A domestic cricket competition in Australia. The tournament saw matches played in Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Austral ...

, Pucovski was named as one of the six cricketers to watch during the tournament. In October 2020, in the third round of the

2020–21 Sheffield Shield season The 2020–21 Sheffield Shield season was the 119th season of the Sheffield Shield, the domestic first-class cricket competition in Australia. On 26 June 2020, Cricket Australia confirmed all the squads for the 2020–21 domestic cricket season. ...

, Pucovski and Marcus Harris scored 486 runs for the first wicket in the match against

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, setting a new partnership record in the Sheffield Shield. Pucovski finished his innings on 255

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

, his highest score in first-class cricket. The following match, he scored 202 runs in the first innings, becoming the first batsman since

Dene Hills Dene Fleetwood Hills (born 27 August 1970) is an Australian former first-class cricketer who played for the Tasmanian Tigers. He was a left-handed top order batsman, who spent much of his career opening the batting alongside Jamie Cox. Former wi ...

in the 1997–98 season to score consecutive double-hundreds in the Sheffield Shield. In November 2020, Pucovski was named in Australia's

squad for their series against India. Pucovski suffered another concussion playing for Australia A in December 2020, bringing the total to nine concussions before playing a single game for Australia. He made his Test debut for Australia on 7 January 2021, against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, scoring 62 in his maiden Test innings. Pucovski had his baggy green cap presented to him by Andrew McDonald. However, during his debut, Pucovski suffered an injury to his shoulder that required reconstruction surgery which ruled him out of playing for six months. In February 2022, during the

2021–22 Sheffield Shield season The 2021–22 Sheffield Shield season was the 120th season of the Sheffield Shield, the domestic first-class cricket competition that was played in Australia. The tournament started in September 2021 ahead of the 2021–22 Ashes series. Queensl ...

, Pucovski suffered another concussion, the eleventh one of his career. In October 2022, Pucovski announced that he would be taking an indefinite leave from cricket.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pucovski, Will 1998 births Living people Australian cricketers Cricket Australia XI cricketers Cricketers from Melbourne Victoria cricketers Australian people of Czech descent People educated at Brighton Grammar School Australia Test cricketers People from Malvern, Victoria Melbourne Cricket Club cricketers