Australian cricket legend Ian Chappell has called on Victorian selectors to stop picking Will Pucovski at No.3 as the search for David Warner’s Test replacement continues.
Pucovski, who opened in his only Test match in 2021, has long been touted as a long-term Australian player but has had to fight setbacks from concussions and mental health issues.
Along with Cameron Bancroft, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Harris and potentially Henry Hunt, Pucovski is one of the contenders to replace Warner out of his retirement, however Chappell wants the selectors to wait, rather than making a rash decision.
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“Out of that list, Pucovski is far and away the best player but do you have the guts as a selector when he’s had (around) 10 concussions?,” he said on Wide World of Sports’ Outside the Rope.
“It’s not less an issue at the moment because to me he’s got to play a full season without getting another concussion and then I’d think about picking him. Because if you’re a selector and you pick him, and let’s say he gets concussed … who do they start blaming? Do they start blaming the selection panel for picking him?
“I would say to Will, you’re a good player, we want you in the team but you’re going to have to play a season of Shield cricket without getting (hit in) the head, then we’ll think about picking you.”
Pucovski has struggled for form this season, hitting 46 runs at 15.33 but is no longer being picked to open for Victoria, having been shuffled down the order to No.3.
Chappell believes that’s a significant problem that needs to be addressed with Marcus Harris and Travis Dean preferred at the top of the order.
“He’s batting three, not opening. If I was an Australian selector, I’d be saying to the Victorian selectors, you think (Travis) Dean is going to play for Australia? Well why isn’t Pucovski opening?,” he said.
“Bat Dean at three, not Pucovski, ridiculous.”
While Australia does have depth in the opening ranks through Sheffield Shield, coach Andrew McDonald hasn’t shied away from the prospect of shuffling the batting order, namely when discussing the future of Cameron Green.
“Mitch Marsh has taken his spot in that middle order, what does Cam Green’s future look like in the Test team? Is it a matter of waiting for Mitch to finish or could there be another spot that opens up over time?,” he said on SEN.
“He batted at six for most of his Test cricket, but he has been a fantastic No.4 for WA and averages close to 50 in Shield cricket.
“There is always the idea that you can potentially shift the order to make room to put your best six batters, or what you see as best six batters, in a certain order, and we have seen that in Australian cricket before.
“David Boon went from three to opening. Justin Langer went from three to opening. Shane Watson went from six to opening. So there has been the ability to reshuffle and for that to be successful.”