Will Pucovski omission 'disappointing' for some, but logical to others

James Pavey

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Will Pucovski omission 'disappointing' for some, but logical to others image

Articles were written. Video packages lined up. Headlines ready to go. Will Pucovski, Test player.

Not yet, though - and that's absolutely fine, it should seem, Pucovski all of 20 years and eight first class matches.

When Pucovski was named in the inital 13-man squad for the two-match series against Sri Lanka, it all but confirmed a baggy green debut against the pink ball for the Victorian.

The 20-year-old has emerged as a key piece of the puzzle with regards to Australia's future batting stocks, but his call-up to the national side looked to have come sooner than expected.

However, Pucovski will instead share the dug-out with veteran quick Peter Siddle and Queensland opener Matt Renshaw for the first Test.

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Meanwhile, Kurtis Patterson and Jhye Richardson will become Australian Test players No. 457 and 458 respectively, with Joe Burns recalled, as the hosts take to the field at the Gabba on Thursday.

It has been a whirlwind week for Patterson - the NSW left-hander's twin tons against the Sri Lankans in Hobart vaulted him into the squad.

Same too for Richardson, who impressed in the three ODIs against India - a series where he took the prized wicket of Virat Kohli each time.

However, the murmurings centred on the Pucovski no-show irked many, forcing others to try and make sense of the situation.

If anything, selecting the squad before the CA XI match - where Patterson did the damage - should be a larger talking point, as it cost Pucovski his Test debut for Thursday, at the earliest.

Pucovski wasn't even named 12th man, Siddle holding that role once again - another perplexing move, Siddle missing out on BBL game time for the Strikers.

Former Test fast bowler Stuart Clark suggested having two debutants in the middle order would leave an ever greater hole in a team already bereft of experience.

"To pick Pucovski, you've got to leave someone out. If you leave Travis Head out, you've got two debutants batting at five and six. Maybe not the right answer," Clark said on Big Sports Breakfast.

"I think he's a player of the future. He'll get a go. What we'd like to see is, when he gets an opportunity to go to red-ball cricket, make some runs."

Gideon Haigh praised an "excellent" young cricketer "patiently groomed", acknowledging how selectors Trevor Hohns and Greg Chappell have "already seen a good deal of Pucovski in their national and state talent management roles", regardless of his minimal first class experience.

"Twenty-year-old Pucovski was the bolter, promoted mainly on the basis of two big hundreds, deduct them from his record, and he averages less than 15," Haigh wrote in The Australian.

"He may not now make the final cut, but is assuredly there or thereabouts.

 

Robert Craddock backed the selections of Patterson and Richardson, but with regards to Pucovski, said Australia were "brave, but not brave enough".

"Australia deserved their plaudits for picking Will Pucovski in the first Test squad against Sri Lanka but it’s unfortunate they could not muster the courage to play him," Craddock wrote.

"He looked good in the nets. He looked ready for the occasion. The hard work of picking him despite his mental health challenges had been done.

"The 20-year-old was the romantic feel-good story Australian cricket was craving.

"Romance is not the reason you pick Test teams but it can be confirmed the first Test against Sri Lanka won’t be quite the same without him."

Kurtis Patterson Will Pucovski

Shane Warne went along the same lines, praising the two new debutants, but said he was "very disappointed" Pucovski didn't get picked.

"Australia has missed a trick by not picking Will Pucovski to make his debut at the Gabba on Thursday," Warne wrote in a column for the Herald Sun.

"I am very disappointed. Pucovski is a quality young player and this was a chance for Australia to build its Test team of the future around him and newcomer Kurtis Patterson.

"Australia has always thrown youngsters in and this was a perfect opportunity to do so again."

From there, the bandwagon filled up.

Brett Lee echoed Warne, saying he was "disappointed" Pucovski missed out, believing "it was the ideal time to blood him".


That "missed opportunity" sat well with former England skipper Michael Vaughan. Mark Waugh agreed, saying no Pucovski was "strange", but conceded Patterson's good form was too good to ignore.


Rodney Hogg and Dean Jones, meanwhile, were unimpressed.

Hogg blasted the decision: "Can't see the point in picking a young man who is in form, gets a mountain of publicity and then they leave him out."

Jones - while pleased for Patterson - said Pucovski was picked first, and should have had a better crack in CA XI's second innings last week.

 

 

 



The Pucovski narrative was - and remains - alive and kicking, some rational, others head-scratching.






 




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Australia: Marcus Harris, Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head, Kurtis Patterson, Tim Paine (c, wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Lyon

Sri Lanka (possible XI): Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimann, Dinesh Chandimal (c), Kusal Mendis, Roshen Silva, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Dilruwan Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara

 

 

James Pavey

James Pavey Photo