While the cricket helmet was developed to make batting safer, could it be creating unforeseen headaches? And could it have played a role in Pucovski's woes?

Back in the day, helmets were rare in junior cricket. Cricket balls are hard so you learnt pretty quickly it wasn't a good idea to get hit by them. Especially in the head.

But safety concerns saw them made compulsory in junior cricket a long time ago, meaning 23-year-old Pucovski has grown up wearing one.

And yet, despite always having the helmet's protection, he's still got issues with concussion.

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So the problem is not that he keeps getting hit in the head. It's that he keeps getting hit in the helmet.

There's been studies in other sports that indicate the perceived protection helmets or headgear provide actually increases the risk of concussion.

In the rugby codes it means going into collisions harder because you feel safer. In the NFL it means using your helmet - and head - as a battering ram. In snow sports it means going faster - and in turn crashing harder.

For Pucovski and other batsmen this can translate into poor technique when playing the short ball. You think you're safe because the helmet's there to save you.

University of Canberra professor of sports medicine Gordon Waddington - who is part of a concussion study involving the AIS, the Hunter Medical Research Institute and the University of Newcastle - said helmets could actually be causing problems they're meant to be stopping.

He was involved in a snow sport study, but said he hadn't done anything specifically with cricket.

While Waddington said every concussion needed to be treated individually, if Pucovski was a family member he'd be encouraging him to consider his future.

He said you were twice as likely to suffer another concussion in the 12 weeks after one, making it something of a self-fulfilling prophecy, and maybe more time out of sport was needed to recover than currently thought.

"Anything that would allow you to be less protective of your head is probably not a good thing," he said.

"I know it sounds counter-intuitive to say that, but if you think you've got something on and I'm protected does that mean you get more head knocks in total?

"They might be not as intense, but there might be more in total."

And as for the potential for technique problems? Former Australian cricket coach John Buchanan felt helmets were being introduced far too early.

But he said the problem with taking them out of the early years of junior cricket was as soon as there was a serious accident all hell would break loose.

He felt there were several problems with helmets.

Firstly, they're heavy. That causes balance issues with young kids, affecting their technique.

Secondly, they're hot and can lead to dehydration, which in turn leads to poor decision making.

Buchanan felt concussion could become a vicious cycle for a batter.

Once they've been hit in the helmet a few times they start to look for bouncers - rather than playing every ball on its merits.

They also become a target for the short ball. Not to hurt the batter. But just to use it to get them out. Even simply moving the field to suggest a bouncer was coming could be used to distract someone like Pucovski.

Buchanan said retraining of the mind was then needed to remap his basic instincts.

"I understand all the so-called safety issues, but I think those who enforce the rules and regulations of cricket have advanced the use of protective helmets far too early in the development of a child's skill levels," Buchanan said.

"It's just become so topical concussions and probably rightly so because there's lots of long-term damage so you're trying to avoid that at all costs.

"But to avoid something like that your foundation techniques need to be really good and maybe that's not occurring in junior sport because of the advancements of things like helmets."