Kuhnemann cleared for Sri Lanka tour after thumb injury

Boost for Australia with left-armer cleared to link up with squad in Sri Lanka ahead of next week's first Test

Matthew Kuhnemann will be available for selection in the first Test of the Sri Lanka series despite a thumb injury that had threatened his tour.

The left-arm offspinner fractured the thumb of his non-bowling hand playing for the Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League last week and underwent surgery.

The injury forced Kuhnemann to miss Australia's ongoing training camp at the ICC Academy in Dubai, instead remaining in Australia to allow his surgical wound to heal.

Kuhnemann has since resumed bowling, and was seen in action at Allan Border Field where a Cricket Australia XI have been playing against an England Lions side. CA confirmed on Friday afternoon that Kuhnemann would fly to Sri Lanka to meet the squad, with the rest of the Aussies en route from Dubai today. 

"I am feeling really good and very grateful how it progressed last week," Kuhnemann told News Corp. "I stopped the painkillers a few days ago. There is not much pain at all anymore."

The 28-year-old, who has three Test caps to his name, will wear a protective covering on his right thumb.

"If anything, I think it can make you more confident because you know the finger is covered," Kuhnemann said. "The surgeon has put a nail in it and if anything (the finger) is probably more stable than it was before.

"I have had balls hit back at me a lot harder and I have been fine. It was one of those freak things where it hit the exact spot it had to to cause damage."

Kuhnemann will be joined by up-and-coming Victorian batter Oliver Peake, who has been invited to the squad's camp in Galle as a development player.

The 18-year-old, who played a nerveless hand in Australia's U19 World Cup win last summer, made his BBL debut for the Melbourne Renegades against the Heat last week, scoring 19 runs.

Kuhnemann's recovery is a big boost for an Australian squad looking for a rare subcontinent Test series win, with the left-armer a favoured selection option next to right-handed Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy.

The 28-year-old made his Test debut on the last subcontinent tour to India in 2023, playing three of a possible four Tests and taking a five-wicket haul in the first innings of Australia's win in Indore.

But Kuhnemann's clearance to join the squad looms as a blow to Cooper Connolly's hopes of making a shock Test debut in the two-match series that begins on January 29.

Connolly has played only four first-class matches and is yet to take a wicket at that level, but a series-ending injury to Kuhnemann would have left him as the sole left-arm spinner touring.

Cooper Connolly has been on a steep learning curve // Tama Stockley/cricket.com.au

The 21-year-old now appears unlikely to earn a Test debut after a breakout 2024 that saw him earn maiden Twenty20 International and one-day international caps.

Kuhnemann's recovery comes after stand-in captain Steve Smith overcame a minor elbow injury to join the squad in Dubai this week.