- Will Pucovski scored his seventh first-class century
- He reached the milestone off 258 balls against NSW.
- The Australian has long been touted as a future Test star.
Will Pucovski has marked his return to the Sheffield Shield with a seventh first-class century, and his first in more than three years, after reaching triple figures against NSW at the SCG.
The 26-year-old took a quick single to reach the 258-ball milestone on Sunday, hitting just five boundaries in the patient knock against an attack by Test bowler Nathan Lyon.
It was his first Shield hundred since November 2020 for the man long touted as a future Test star.
Pucovski, who made his only Test appearance for Australia in January 2021, returned to the team after recovering from an 11th concussion late last month.
Following the recent Test retirement of opener David Warner, it was a timely reminder of Pucovski’s class and poise in just his 35th first-class match since his debut in 2017.
Pucovski marked his return to the Sheffield Shield with a seventh first-class century
He achieved the mark with 258 balls on Sunday against NSW at the SCG.
He sat out the game in 2022 for mental health reasons but has played five Shield matches for the second-placed Bushrangers this season.
Pucovski made exactly 200 with Peter Handscomb (114), who was chasing fast runs in the final before lunch on the third day.
With Pucovski unbeaten on 102, the visitors were 3-361 and in a dominant position after Nic Maddinson’s fiery 108, with five sixes, on Saturday.
The Blues, less than a point behind Western Australia in fourth place, made 252 in their first innings behind Jack Edwards’ 99.
Last month. Pucovski announced his engagement to his girlfriend Emma Stonier, even though his future father-in-law jokingly rejected his request.
He popped the question on New Year’s Eve, but has since revealed that the process wasn’t as smooth as he would like.
Speaking on Channel 7, the Victorian spoke about the happy news and how it came about.
“It’s been an exciting week,” he told 7Cricket’s The Spin.
Will Pucovski announced his engagement to his girlfriend Emma Stonier last month.
‘I didn’t (kneel down), it was more of a lunge. I’m not the most flexible, so it was hard to get to the end. And it was on gravel, so I didn’t want to cut my knee or anything like that. I kept it pretty simple.’
When asked if he got approval from Stonier’s father, Pucovski revealed that it wasn’t easy.
“I got the old man’s (my partner’s) approval, it’s a little annoying,” Pucovski laughed.
“I actually asked her on Christmas Eve, and then on Christmas Day she came up to me and said, ‘I’ve thought about it and no, you can’t, she’s too good for you.’
And I said, “I agree, but I’ll do it anyway. Yesterday you said yes, that’s enough for me!”
‘But yeah, it was good to do it. (We went on) a 45-minute walk to this spot that I had chosen and I was excited for the first 44 minutes, and then at the last minute I just completely lost it.
“I had a big speech planned and everything went out the window, and I thought, ‘Just do this and make it happen.'”