“The concussions have masked the bigger issues, and that’s the mental health stuff,” Pucovski said. “The mental health has been a much bigger issue for me than even the concussions.

“I don’t fear for my long-term health, it’s more the mental health side that’s been the tougher part.”

On Sunday, Pucovski ducked into a short ball from Tasmanian fast bowler Riley Meredith and buckled at the knees before going to the ground.

The 26-year-old lay on the ground for some time being attended by medical staff before slowly getting to his feet and walking from the ground unassisted.

Former Australian and Tasmanian skipper Tim Paine, who captained Pucovski in his only Test three years ago, was concerned with what he saw.

“I was watching that live, it wasn’t good to watch,” he said on SEN.

“Hopefully he’s OK, first and foremost. But I think it is concerning it keeps happening and I think now is probably the time him and his people around will have to have a serious conversation on what’s next and which way he is going to attack it.

“I think a lot of stuff around social media was: when is enough enough? And when is your health more important than the game you love?

“... I don’t love talking about it, I think everyone knows the issue there and unfortunately it keeps happening, he keeps getting hit in the head.

“He’s got some concussion issues which we’re seeing more and more in all sports, mainly contact sports, but certainly in cricket in the last four or five years it’s become much more of an issue.

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“You can’t give someone advice that you don’t know the complete story. I don’t know how bad his concussions are, I haven’t seen his scans, I’m not a doctor or surgeon and certainly not a brain expert. I just hope he’s OK and he’s happy.

“At the end of the day he’s a great young talent, an exceptional talent with the bat in hand but life’s got to be more important at some stage I would’ve thought.”

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