Australian spinner Matt Kuhnemann free to return to cricket after action cleared
Matt Kuhnemann is free to continue bowling after his action was cleared by the ICC.
AAP understands Kuhnemann was informed on Wednesday night his action had been deemed legal following biomechanical testing in Brisbane last week.
The news will have come as a significant relief to the 28-year-old, who had faced the prospect of needing to reconfigure his action if he failed the test.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.It is also a serious boost to the Australian Test team, with Kuhnemann likely to form part of their squad for this year’s tour of the Caribbean.
Kuhnemann was the star of Australia’s 2-0 series sweep of Sri Lanka earlier this month, claiming 16 wickets at an average of 17.18.
But it was during the second Test of that tour when he was reported, with umpires not convinced by the legality of his action.
That prompted Kuhnemann to face more than an hour of biomechanical testing in Brisbane a week and a half ago, while hooked up to markers on his arm.
The result of those tests have now shown the left-arm spinner does not extend his elbow by more than the 15 degrees allowed during delivery.
Australian officials were shocked when Kuhnemann was reported, given he had played eight years of professional cricket without requiring tests.
Fellow players, including Indian great Ravichandran Ashwin, have previously defended Kuhnemann’s action, claiming his wrist movement creates an optical illusion.
Sri Lanka’s spin bowling coach, Piyal Wijetunge, is also reported to have made a similar observation to his batters when they queried Kuhnemann’s action in the recent series.
“An interesting feature of his action is his loading,” spinner Ashwin said on his YouTube channel in 2023.
“For Kuhnemann, his wrist breaks during his loading.
“So sometimes it will look like there is an elbow extension. There is nothing like that in his action. But there is wrist involvement, for sure.
“Because of this wrist involvement, the ball will come down faster.”
The Queenslander-turned-Tasmanian-representative looms as a big part of Australia’s puzzle for India in 2027, given the point of difference he offers as a left-arm spinner.
Kuhnemann took nine wickets at 31.31 on his debut tour of India in 2023, including a five-wicket haul in Australia’s sole win at Indore.
