Steve Smith cleared, Matthew Kuhnemann still a chance to tour Sri Lanka

Stand-in skipper Steve Smith has been cleared to take on Sri Lanka, while selectors will give left-armer Matthew Kuhnemann every chance to be part of the tour.

Stand-in skipper Steve Smith has been cleared to take on Sri Lanka, while selectors are inclined to give left-armer Matthew Kuhnemann every chance to be part of the tour.

Cricket Australia released a statement confirming Smith had been cleared to play.

“Steve Smith has undergone a specialist medical review today following his right elbow injury sustained during the Big Bash League. He has been cleared to rejoin the Test squad and travel to Dubai,” they said.

“Smith is expected to return to batting later in the week to begin his preparation for the first Test against Sri Lanka.”

Matt Kuhnemann is meanwhile increasingly likely to tour Sri Lanka though a final call on whether the finger spinner will depart for the subcontinent will only come in the middle of this week after he resumes bowling.

It’s understood national selectors are inclined to give the left-armer every chance to be part of the touring party, even if he remains in doubt for the first Test, beginning on January 29 at Galle.

Steve Smith has been cleared for the Sri Lanka tour. Picture: Izhar Khan/Getty Images

A lack of compelling left-arm options behind the Tasmania and Brisbane Heat spinner has heighetend the panel’s desire for Kuhnemann to make the trip, though there is a chance he may only be available for the second Test – also at Galle – that starts on February 6.

Kuhnemann suffered a compound dislocation and fracture of his right thumb while fielding for the Heat against the Hobart Hurricanes at the Gabba on Thursday night and underwent surgery the following day.

The procedure is believed to have gone well although Kuhnemann, who played three Tests in India two years ago, has stayed back in Australia for the time being.

Should he be given the green light during the week, Kuhnemann would likely head to Sri Lanka at the back end of the week where he would join the rest of the squad.

Matthew Kuhnemann is a chance to tour Sri Lanka. Picture: Sajjad HUSSAIN/AFP

CA meanwhile said that Pat Cummins is recovering left ankle soreness, with his involvement in the Champions Trophy remaining unclear. Cummins was already missing the Sri Lanka tour ahead of the birth of his second child.

With Kuhnemann in doubt for the first Test, West Australian Cooper Connolly’s chances of a Test debut have increased.

Kuhnemann is one of three specialist spinners in the Aussie squad alongside Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy, along with all-rounder Connolly, the only other left-arm finger-spinner in the squad.

Lyon told Channel 7 over the weekend that Kuhnemann was desperate to still be a part of the series.

“Yeah I think it’s key but I’m not ruling Matty out yet,” Lyon said.

“His reply to me was like ‘it’s only my right thumb so just cut it off and away we go’. So you can tell he’s desperate to play. As I said, I hope it’s a speedy recovery but it’s hard to tell who’s going to play, obviously we don’t know what the conditions are going to be like.

“But I feel like with the squad we’ve got we’re covering all bases. I feel like Cooper Connolly, Sean Abbott and obviously Beau Webster … with those three guys especially … I feel like with ball in hand we’ve got a confident enough 11 to get the job done.”

Kuhnemann still in Test hunt after successful finger surgery

Matt Kuhnemann remains a chance to tour Sri Lanka despite undergoing thumb surgery on Friday with no obvious replacement for the spinner in Australia’s domestic ranks.

Kuhnemann left the field late in the Brisbane Heat’s Big Bash League match against the Hobart Hurricanes on Thursday night at the Gabba after hurting his right thumb trying to field a drive from Matthew Wade off his own bowling.

It’s understood the left-arm spinner successfully underwent surgery on Friday and has not yet been ruled out of the two-Test series beginning in Galle on January 29.

Kuhnemann is no chance of departing on time for a training camp in Dubai over the weekend, but a final call on his availability for the Tests could still be days away given the series doesn’t start for well over a week.

Matt Kuhnemann in action for the Brisbane Heat in the BBL. Picture: Sarah Reed/Getty Images

Despite playing just three Tests, Kuhnemann is in many respects the hardest player in the 16-man squad to replace given the dearth of left-arm finger spinners in Australian professional cricket.

Part-timer Cooper Connolly is already in the squad, with the Kuhnemann news boosting the 21-year-old’s chances of getting a baggy green in Galle.

The clear standout Sheffield Shield spinner not in the squad is West Australian off-spinner Corey Rocchiccioli, but Australia already has two specialist offies in its squad (Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy).

Ashton Agar, who turned down a state deal with WA last year, has surged back into contention for what would be the sixth Test of a stop-start career. Douglas Warren, a lefty with Victoria, is also among the handful of players plying the craft in the Shield.

Another option for selectors is to pick a wrist-spinner to replace Kuhnemann, with Mitchell Swepson and Adam Zampa the leading candidates on that front. Tanveer Sangha and Lloyd Pope are the other leggies playing regular state cricket.

Cooper Connolly bowling for Perth Scorchers in the BBL. Picture: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

Kuhnemann’s Heat and Australian teammate Marnus Labuschagne told AAP after the game on Thursday night that things looked ominous for the spinner.

“I just heard about Matt Kuhnemann, so that’s pretty bad,” Labuschagne said.

“Thumb … it doesn’t look great. I really feel for him.”

Kuhnemann leapfrogged Agar and Swepson into the Test XI after being a late call-up in India two years ago.

However Swepson had kept Kuhnemann out of Queensland’s Sheffield Shield team, prompting the lefty to move to Tasmania for greater opportunity last year.

Selection chair George Bailey said earlier in the month that Connolly was a realistic chance of making his Test debut in Sri Lanka.

“Technically, we like it. Temperament, we like. Character, we like. Clearly, skill set, there’s a lot to like there as well,” Bailey said.

“He’s someone that we’ve had our eye on for a period of time.

“On the first-class front, there’s not a great deal of games behind him, but he is one that’s been around that one-day group.

“We have in the past used that as a stepping stone at different times to see a player a bit more, find out a bit more about the way they play. He was obviously the beneficiary of that.”

Originally published as Steve Smith cleared, Matthew Kuhnemann still a chance to tour Sri Lanka