EARLY SIGNS BEFORE WILL OPTED FOR TIME AWAY

VICTORIAN cricket boss Graham Manou has conceded there were “warning signs” as early as the opening Sheffield Shield match this summer before star batter Will Pucovski opted to step away from the game again.

The 24-year-old, who has had an interrupted start to his professional career through concussion and mental health challenges, might not be seen until the back end of the summer.

Manou, Victoria’s general manager of cricket, said any return date for Pucovski, who had played one Test for Australia, was “irrelevant” and his health took priority.

He said Pucovski’s issues came to a head during the second Shield clash of the summer, against WA, and in conjunction with medical staff, he opted to step away for the foreseeable future.

“For the first part of our season, which included the pre-season and the second XI game he played (when Pucovski made 193 not out), all signs were good. He really seemed in a fantastic place,” Manou said on Friday.

“We had our team psychologist in Adelaide for the first Shield game and there were a couple of warning signs there and just during the Shield game against WA a few things sort of came to a head for Will.

“And as he has been throughout, took another courageous decision to take a little bit more time out of the game.”

Manou said Pucovski would continue to work with Cricket Victoria medical and development staff, which includes former AFL football Lynden Dunn, to work on his issues.

But he also said the young star would seek outside help to develop more “coping mechanisms” before he felt well enough to return.

“We’re fortunate, across cricket, but in particular at CV, we have a fantastic psychologist who has been working very closely with Will and our male and female paying group,” Manou told RSN.

“He’ll seek a little bit of extra support over the next few weeks to give him some additional and perhaps some specialist work to help him develop some coping mechanisms.

“The most important thing is that through this process we are setting him up for life well beyond cricket … it is just a game, a game he is bloody good at. Lynden Dunn, who is our player development manager, is also working closely with Will. We have plenty of people around him.

“Whether he’s back in a fortnight’s time, or we see him at the back end of the summer, that’s irrelevant to us. We want to make sure that, with all players, we are setting them up for life.”