Tasmania expects Matt Kuhnemann to play in their next Sheffield Shield match as Australia’s latest spin sensation fights to save his bowling action.
Kuhnemann is back in Australia after his superb tour of Sri Lanka ended on a sour note after being reported earlier this week for a suspect bowling action.
The spinner did not play in Tasmania’s one-dayer against Victoria on Thursday, after landing in Brisbane and seeing the surgeon who operated on his thumb last month.
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But AAP reports Tasmania expect him to play against South Australia in Adelaide next Tuesday.
Kuhnemann has been thrown into the spotlight after match officials cited his action following the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle this month.
The left-arm finger spinner took 16 wickets in the two-Test series.
The timing of the citing raised the suspicions of former Australian spinner Xavier Doherty, who told the ABC Sport Daily Podcast that in real-time, he believed Kuhnemann’s action was legal.
“He’s been to India which is a massive tour with huge media interest. He’s been cleared there,” Doherty said.
“He’s come to Sri Lanka, he’s taken a lot of wickets … which generally goes with the territory of people criticising or calling out your action.
“The timing is the big question mark for me. What have these guys [the match officials] seen now that we have to have a look at?”
Under ICC rules, players reported with a suspect bowling action are able to continue to play domestic cricket until they are biomechanically tested, but cannot play internationals.
A date is yet to be set for Kuhnemann’s test, but it must be completed within a fortnight of being reported.
It is expected it will take place at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane, under the watchful eyes of the ICC panel of human movement specialists.
Kuhnemann will need to bowl at a similar speed like he did in the second Test against Sri Lanka at Galle, while sending the ball down with similar revolutions.
The 28-year-old will then learn within weeks of the ICC tests whether his elbow does extend by more than the 15 degrees allowed when bowling.
If so, Kuhnemann faces being rubbed out of bowling until he is able to prove he has remedied his action.
No matter the result, Doherty said an incident like this would likely rattle the 28-year-old’s confidence and would follow him for the rest of his career.
“My gut feeling is he will be OK, but time will tell. It’s not a nice time for him, I do feel for him,” Doherty told the ABC Sport Daily Podcast.
“This is going to stick with him.”
Kuhnemann will likely form part of Australia’s squad for the three-Test series of West Indies starting in June if available, given the slower wickets in the Caribbean.
But it is the 2027 tour of India where Australia will most need the spinner, given the variation he offers as a left-arm tweaker.
Cricket Australia has made clear they will support Kuhnemann, pointing out in a statement on Wednesday he had played 124 professional matches — including nine internationals — and never been reported before.
AAP/ABC
