‘Never goes away’: How ‘system failed’ Aussie as sad reality of bowling bombshell sinks in

Sri Lanka’s batters had reportedly raised concerns about Matthew Kuhnemann’s bowling following the first Test of the Warne–Muralitharan Trophy, with the Australian spinner set to undergo mandatory testing after he was reported for a suspect action.

Kuhnemann was the leading wicket-taker of the two-Test campaign, taking 16 wickets at 17.18 as Australia cruised towards a series whitewash over the Sri Lankans.

However, match officials cited concerns about the legality of Kuhnemann’s bowling after the second Test in Galle, with the ICC confirming he will need to undergo an independent assessment of his action by a panel of human-movement specialists within the next fortnight.

The 28-year-old is ineligible to bowl at international level until he has been cleared by the ICC, but he is expected to play in Tasmania’s next Sheffield Shield match against South Australia in Adelaide.

Under ICC guidelines, bowlers are permitted 15 degrees of flex in their elbow during a bowling motion. Five years ago, Sydney Thunder spinner Chris Green copped a 90-day ban after he was reported for a suspect action.

On Wednesday, Cricket Australia released a statement confirming Kuhnemann’s bowling action had never previously been reported across his eight-year professional career.

“The Australian team was notified of the match officials’ referral following the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle and will support Matt through the process of clearing this matter,” the statement read.

“Cricket Australia will liaise closely with the ICC and independent experts in line with ICC regulations.”

Cricbuzz has reported that senior Sri Lankan players were left perplexed that match officials waited until the end of the series to report Kuhnemann’s action, with multiple of the team’s batters raising concerns about his bowling following the series opener. According to the report, one of the team’s batters approached Sri Lankan spin bowling coach Piyal Wijetunge to watch replays and analyse Kuhnemann’s action during the first Test.

Australia's Matthew Kuhnemann. Photo by Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP

Queensland and Brisbane Heat coach Johan Botha, who was reported for a suspect bowling action multiple times during his playing days, warned that Kuhnemann should brace for accusations of chucking that will follow him for the remainder of his career.

“It is a long process and unfortunately either way if you get cleared or not it will always be there,” Botha told SEN on Thursday.

“Guys think it’s a one-off and you get rid of it. That is not how it is. It is a bit of a process. For now he will have to bowl at a very similar speed and revolutions as he did in the Tests. Nothing gets changed now.

“He needs to try and prove himself not guilty and from there on if it is a ball or so over 15 degrees he will obviously have some work to do, then a long process starts. It never goes away because there is always someone in the crowd, someone in the opposition, or a match referee who wants to have a say or wants to feel a part of it.”

Botha also suggested that issues with Kuhnemann’s bowling action during the second Test could have arisen from fatigue, with the left-armed spinner potentially pushing himself to maintain speed.

“He bowled quite a lot of balls in the Test series. As you get tired your action gets put under pressure,” Botha continued.

“I’d be interested to see when the umpires thought or the match referee thought it was not as clean as they would have liked it. And I would guess it could be later in the game. When you start getting tired, the ball is older and softer and you have to try and generate a little bit more pace. Whereas with the new ball it obviously comes off the wicket a bit quicker so I don’t think you need to force it so much.”

Matthew Kuhnemann of Australia. Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Meanwhile, former Test spinner Steve O’Keefe accused CA and Queensland Cricket of failing to identify Kuhnemann’s potentially questionable action at an early age, which would have ensured he avoided public scrutiny at an international level.

“He’s played over 100 professional games of cricket in front of match referees in the Big Bash and first-class cricket,” O’Keefe said.

“He would have trained in front of coaches who would have seen his development over the years. I think it might be hyperextension, and I don’t think he’ll have any issues.

“In this situation, it can be quite detrimental to the player and the welfare of Matt after a great series in Sri Lanka, he now has to go through this process which is horrible.

“It’s really cold, you’re on your own, they don’t talk to you, they tape you up and then they test you with these degrees of action.”

O’Keefe continued: “We don’t want it happening at the top end, imagine if we had a tour of India coming up and he’s the dominant spinner - he’d be out of it.

“In my opinion, the system has failed and let him down, but I do believe there will be nothing to see here for Matt Kuhnemann ... I think he’ll be okay.”