Promising Test spinner Matt Kuhnemann will need to play Sheffield Shield to find a new home

Australia’s first-choice left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann will need his state to come to the party if he is to find a new home next season, writes DANIEL CHERNY.

HOVE, ENGLAND - APRIL 07: Matt Kuhnemann of Durham celebrates with Ben Raine after dismissing George Garton of Sussex during the LV= Insurance County Championship Division 2 match between Sussex and Durham at The 1st Central County Ground on April 07, 2023 in Hove, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Twelve months on from his promising Test debut, Australia’s first-choice left-arm spinner has not played another Sheffield Shield match and will need his state to come to the party if he is to find a new home next season.

Matt Kuhnemann leapfrogged Ashton Agar and Mitchell Swepson to burst into Test cricket last year with nine wickets across three Tests in India, including a first-innings 5-16 to spearhead a victory in Indore, yet he cannot crack into Queensland’s Shield team.

A year to the week after claiming his baggy green at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, Kuhnemann is this week lining up in considerably less auspicious surrounds of Casey Fields Oval No.4 for a state second XI match between Victoria and Queensland.

The Bulls, who moved off the bottom of the Shield standings over the weekend by beating South Australia in Adelaide, have preferred four-Test leg-spinner Swepson over his fellow spinner in red-ball cricket this season.

With Agar having been sidelined for much of the season and Jon Holland being flicked by Victoria at the end of the last campaign, it has meant there has barely been any left-arm orthodox presence in the Shield this summer.

Kuhnemann needs to find his way back to the Sheffield Shield. Picture: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images

Emerging Victorian Doug Warren had a taste, Todd Murphy was injured earlier in the season and Western Australia’s left-arm wrist spinner Hamish McKenzie was briefly sighted.

However, off-spinners Murphy, Corey Rocchiccioli (WA), Ben Manenti (SA), Jarrod Freeman (Tasmania) and Test incumbent Nathan Lyon (NSW) are, along with Swepson, collectively blocking the path of southpaw twirlers.

While Australia has not toured Asia for Test cricket since the 2-1 series loss in India, the Aussies are scheduled to tour Sri Lanka for two Tests early next year.

Australia hasn’t won a Test series on the island since 2011 and was in 2022 undone by the left-arm spin of Prabath Jayasuriya, who has 63 Test wickets on home soil at 24.28.

If Australian selectors needed any reminder of the importance of left-arm orthodox spinners on the subcontinent, they received it over the weekend when Indian star Ravindra Jadeja took seven wickets, and posted a century, in his side’s Test win over England at Rajkot.

With Shield opportunities not forthcoming, Kuhnemann’s last first-class match came for Australia A against New Zealand A in Mackay in September.

He also had a county stint with Durham last year.

Kuhnemann was part of the Brisbane Heat’s Big Bash League-winning side last month. Picture: Albert Perez/Getty Images

Linked with Tasmania last year, a move interstate at season’s end for Kuhnemann would arguably be in the interests of Australian cricket to provide opportunities for the left-armer to play in the Shield before the Sri Lankan tour.

However, Kuhnemann is contracted for next season with Queensland, meaning the Bulls would need to release a player who has been playing white-ball cricket for the state and was a member of the Brisbane Heat’s Big Bash League-winning side last month.

In an interview with Fox Sports in December, Kuhnemann, who received advice from Jadeja at the end of last year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, said he understood why there had only been room for one of him or Swepson.

“Sweppo is a world-class bowler,” Kuhnemann said.

“It’s hard when I’m playing the one-day stuff and he’s playing the Shield stuff. Both of us would like to be playing both.

“Brisbane traditionally isn’t a great place for spin bowlers, so we’re making it work.

“The last couple of months I’ve been training a lot and that’s given me a chance to work on my T20 stuff.

“Ultimately, we want the Bulls to win.”

Australian selectors have indicated a willingness to look left-field for Asian tours.

White-ball stars Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa have not given up hope of call-ups for the series in Sri Lanka.

Originally published as Promising Test spinner Matt Kuhnemann will need to play Sheffield Shield to find a new home