Border’s plea for Pucovski
ALLAN Border has called on cricket manufacturers to develop a helmet capable of protecting Will Pucovski, admitting he felt sorry for bowlers who target him.
Batting enigma Pucovski, who has suffered more than 11 concussions, is back on Australia’s radar after being named by the national selectors on Monday in a group of eight youngsters who will visit India next month for specialist tuition on subcontinental decks.
Pucovski, 24, has played just one Test but with Usman Khawaja and David Warner both 35, he remains a player of great interest to the national selectors.
“There’s got to be someone out there who can build a helmet that takes the impact out and the brains not so scattered around,’’ Border said in Brisbane on Monday at the field named in his honour.
Border was speaking at a ceremony where Border Field’s white pickets were placed up for sale – for $500 to $5000 – for fans to have their names placed on the same picket as a legend such as Border, individually, or with a current Queensland player.
It was a case of the rock star backing the star rock as Powerfinger front man and cricket nut Bernard Fanning paid to have his name on the picket named after batting rock star Border. Funds from the project will help areas such as female cricket, Indigenous health and disadvantaged youth.
“Surely there’s some way of putting this kid in a helmet that he’s going to be safe and so that he gets hit in the head and it is not an issue,’’ Border said of Pucovski.
“He can then show his skills because he has the skills. I feel sorry for opposition teams because you are going to attack him with bouncers, aren’t you?
“This is just the way it is. It is not like the rugby (union) days where if you are 90 years old you wear a yellow tag and are not allowed to be tackled.
“He could be something very, very special.
“Because it’s a confidence thing, he must be continually worried about getting hit in the head. So if that’s in the back of my head, every time we go to bat, it’s hard to show your skills off.’’
Border went into bat for the 50-over international, which provided him with one of his greatest triumphs, the 1987 World Cup. He considers it better than T20.