Prodigy learns from knocks

Will’s in a ‘good place’

AUSTRALIAN super bat Will Pucovski says his history of suffering concussions has been a factor in his mental health.

The 22-year-old reaffirmed he is in the right head space should a Test de but be handed to him in Adelaide next month, after scoring a mountain of Sheffield Shield runs to demand selection in the 17man squad to tackle India.

Deleting Twitter and most social media over the past few months has also h el pedPucovski, pictured, stay away from outside distractions.

He says he is proud of the work he has put into better understanding his wellbeing over the past couple of years, and revealed part of his research has led him to believe head knocks may have contributed to some of his struggle sin other areas.

“Yeah, to a degree I think a lot of medical advice has been suggesting that it can play a part in some other areas of your life,”Pucovsk is aid.

“Obviously getting hit in the head a lot isn’t ideal from a physical or a mental perspective, so I guess to a degree it has had some effect on it.

“But I’ve done a lot of work in that space to try to make sure my processes were in a really good place and I’ ve got a great support team around me. It’s even great looking back from a personal point of view, away from the Test side, seeing how far I’ ve developed over the past couple of years just with the work I have been doing.

“To see those rewards is really good just from a personal point of view .”

As a schoolboy footballer, Pucovski copped an accidental knee to the back of the head which resulted in him missing six months of school.

In first-class cricket, he has also suffered multiple blows to the head while batting.

Pucovski told The Risk Equation podcast recently he did not believe he had a mental health issue as such — but more than his head had been through more than the average22-year-old.

Being told by experts his concussions may have contributed to how he was feeling has helped him build to the point where he feels ready to be thrust into Test cricket.

“I don’t know if it was a realisation necessarily. More just listening to medical opinion,”hesaid.