Matt Kuhneman’s Thumb Injury Casts Doubt on Sri Lanka Test Series

Matt Kuhneman’s Thumb Injury: Australia’s Test team has been dealt a major blow ahead of the upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, as left-arm spinner Matt Kuhneman’s participation is now in serious doubt due to a thumb injury.

Kuhneman’s Thumb Injury Clouds Sri Lanka Test Series

Matt Kuhneman’s, who was recalled for the tour, suffered an injury while playing for Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League (BBL) on Thursday night, which is likely to hamper his plans for the Sri Lanka tour.

The incident occurred when Kuhneman was fielding a straight drive off the bowling of Hobart Hurricanes’ Matthew Wade. Kahneman felt pain when he had to leave the field in the middle of the over after injuring his non-bowling right thumb. Heat and Australian Test teammate Marnus Labuschran also spoke about it.

“I just heard about Matt Kahneman, so that’s pretty bad. It doesn’t look good. I feel really bad for him. He’s someone I’m close to and he’s grown a lot with his bowling and in Sri Lanka, he’s probably one of the first players picked there. I’m disappointed,” Labuschagne said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

Although the injury came days before the Australian team left for a pre-Test training camp in Dubai, Kuhneman’s injury remains unclear. His absence could create opportunities for alternate spinners and the team may have to consider late replacements for the tour.

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Replacement Options for Kuhneman

Meanwhile, the spinner was expected to feature in the squad following a strong performance in Australia’s 2023 tour of India. In those matches, he proved effective in the subcontinent’s conditions, picking nine wickets, including a five-wicket haul in the second Test at Indore.

However, with Kuhnemann potentially sidelined, the Australian team may turn to other spinners in their arsenal. Right-arm off-spinner Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy are already part of the squad, and young allrounder Cooper Connolly, who is also a slow left-arm orthodox bowler, may be called up as a surprise debutant. Despite having no first-class wickets to his name, Connolly is highly regarded by interim captain Steven Smith.

There are also several uncapped spinners in the mix, including West Australian offspinner Corey Rocchiccioli, New South Wales legspinner Tanveer Sangha, and Queensland’s Mitchell Swepson, all of whom could be in contention should Kuhnemann be ruled out.

After limited opportunities in Queensland’s Sheffield Shield team, Kuhnemann moved to Tasmania for this season and has been in outstanding form. With 18 wickets in just six matches, he is the highest wicket-taker among spinners in the competition.

“You can’t put your finger down on one thing; you need different options because in the subcontinent, you hit one good sweep and there’s two or three guys out there. So you trust your defence, trust your sweep and your game and mix it all together,” Labuschagne added.