Aussies rally around youngster amid 'sad' mental health call

Australian captain Tim Paine will reach out to Will Pucovski, telling the young batsman to put personal happiness before any thoughts of a Test cricket career.

Pucovski, citing mental health concerns, made himself unavailable for the looming Test series against Pakistan.

Paine will contact the 21-year-old on Friday to offer support.

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"First and foremost, we want Will to be a happy young man," Paine told reporters in Adelaide on Thursday.

"Sometimes we forget that he is still a kid. He has got a lot of pressure put on him from outside sources and expectation.

"Hopefully he's in a position in the next few years to fulfil that (cricket) potential that he has got.

"The first priority for us and for Will is his mental well-being."

Paine has grown close to the Victorian, who was in selection discussions for the first Test against Pakistan starting November 21 before opting out.

"He's a great young kid and it's sad to see him going through this," Paine said.

"We know how talented he is.

"I think making the right decision to step away and take care of himself and get himself healthy and in the right state of mind is going to be important because we think he is someone who has got a huge Test future."

Pucovski is the third Australian to take a break from cricket in past weeks due to mental health reasons, following fellow Victorians Glenn Maxwell and Nic Maddinson.

"Hopefully their mental well-being is in a good place eventually and we can get those guys back out playing cricket," Paine said.

"But at the moment it's for us to support them and help them through difficult times."

Australian Test squad member James Pattinson, a Victorian teammate of Pucovski, said the batting prodigy needed support.

‘He just needs a lot of support’

"There are going to be times when he doesn't feel right and he has put his hand up and said that," Pattinson told reporters in Melbourne.

"Test cricket is just so hard. You have people on you all the time.

"He is a young bloke, as he gets older and more mature he'll work stuff out and get better. He just needs a lot of support."

Pucovski spoke last week about the ongoing management of his mental health.

"Mental health is never a 'you're well or you're not' - there's dips and curves," he told News Corp Australia.

"It's not a day-by-day thing where all of a sudden you wake up and feel a million bucks.

"It's more learning how to accept when you're not feeling so good and being able to manage those days a bit better."

Pucovski was also released from the Test squad that hosted Sri Lanka last summer after reporting

Australia's chief of selectors Trevor Hohns on Thursday declined to say if Pucovski, if available, would have been picked to face Pakistan.

"He going to be a very, very good player but obviously the timing just wasn't quite right for him at the moment," Hohns told reporters in Perth.