Indore to Hobart: Kuhnemann's journey to revive his red-ball career
The left-arm spinner took 5 for 16 against India last year but has had precious little first-class cricket since then
Alex Malcolm01-Oct-2024There was a moment eighteen months ago when the world appeared to be Matt Kuhnemann’s oyster.It was March 2023. The Queenslander had made his ODI and Test debuts within the span of eight months. His first Test wicket was Virat Kohli. He took 5 for 16 in his second Test match in Indore to help Australia to a rare victory on Indian soil.However, following the fourth Test in Ahmedabad, Kuhnemann’s third, his first-class career has completely stalled through no fault of his own. He has played just four first-class matches since that India tour. Three came for Durham at the start of the 2023 County Championship season, but after bowling 94 overs in the first two matches, while bagging 12 wickets, symptoms of a stress fracture appeared during the third and a confirming scan ended his campaign in April.Related
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He returned to play for Australia A against New Zealand A in a four-day game in Mackay in September of 2023 but he has not featured in a single first-class game since despite being fully fit and available.His home state of Queensland opted to play just one spinner in their Sheffield Shield XI last summer, which was understandable given the pitch conditions at all Shield venues. It meant legspinner Mitchell Swepson was preferred ahead of Kuhnemann despite Australia choosing the left-arm orthodox ahead of the legspinner in India.So when Tasmania reached out during the off-season about moving south to be the No. 1 spinner in a side that had just finished runner-up in the Shield, the 28-year-old Gold Coast native had no qualms about braving the cold.”The move was quite an easy decision.” Kuhnemann told ESPNcricinfo. “I love cricket, and I want to try and play as many games as I can and I want to win a Shield. That was probably the main factor. I’ve had some international experience, had a taste of it. I’d love to get back in that arena. But to be honest, probably winning a Shield would be a massive highlight for me. To be part of that, it would be a dream come true. The opportunity arose and I jumped at it straight away.”
If it’s early in the game, or if it’s in the back end, trying to try to win the game for the boys, and trying to bowl into some foot marks, I think there’s definitely some overs to be bowled by a spinner Bellerive.Matt Kuhnemann on his new home ground
Far from being bitter about his lack of red-ball opportunities over the last 12 months, Kuhnemann feels like he still got plenty out of last summer and does not feel underdone coming into what will be his first full season as the No. 1 spinner in a Shield side.”I love training, so I bowled a lot in the nets,” Kuhnemann said. “Last year, I found myself bowling a fair bit to Marnus [Labuschagne] in the nets. And I was just working on probably more how I bowl in the subcontinent or Australia. So sort of just learning the art of spin bowling a bit more in the nets, and experimenting with a few more things.”
He doesn’t want to look too far ahead. But Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka looms on the horizon. Despite his limited first-class cricket in recent times, he could be a key figure for Australia who are desperate for a left-arm orthodox spinner in those conditions. They did not pick a left-arm orthodox in the two Tests in Sri Lanka on their last tour in 2022, instead opting for the legspin of Swepson to partner Nathan Lyon, only for Sri Lanka’s left-arm orthodox spinner Prabath Jayasuriya to take 12 wickets on debut in the second Test to square the series.Kuhnemann played in the ODI portion of the tour ahead of the Tests and also played for Australia A against Sri Lanka A on the same trip, which proved a valuable experience for him.He’s got backers in his corner. He recently went on a trip to the MRF Academy in Chennai with a group of Australian domestic players and remains in touch Australia’s bowling coach, and former New Zealand left-arm orthodox, Daniel Vettori.”He’s only a short message away,” Kuhnemann said. “I sent him some videos, and he gives me his feedback. He’s a guru. He’s someone I lean on a fair bit now.”Another trusted advisor and supporter has been former Australia spinner Steve O’Keefe. Kuhnemann sought out O’Keefe for advice when playing against each other in the BBL, even taking the extraordinary step of asking to have a bowl with him before a game between Brisbane Heat and Sydney Sixers.A season with Durham was cut short by injury in 2023•Getty ImagesThe pair have stayed in touch. Kuhnemann travelled to Sydney and had a bowl with him prior to the 2022 tour of Sri Lanka. O’Keefe is pleased Kuhnemann has made the move to Tasmania and thinks he can play a big part in Sri Lanka if selected.”I was watching him bowl, and I’m like, geez I wish I had half the talent that you’ve got, particularly at your age,” O’Keefe told ESPNcricinfo. “Because he’s obviously got the nice attributes, being a nice height, he gets good spin on the ball. He can change his pace really well. And then I think outside of all that, and having good control, he had the brains, which was what I was more interested in.”We just had a bowl and a yarn about different shapes and seam positions that we thought might work in different conditions.”Kuhnemann has made a change to the speed of his run-up. Seeing the success Western Australia’s Corey Rocchiccioli and Victoria’s Todd Murphy have had at Shield level – two other strong spin candidates to be on the Sri Lanka tour – has given him some ideas as to how to add to his potency in Australia.”[Trying to put a] bit more energy on the ball, sort of similar to how Todd and Corey run in a fair bit and get some nice energy the ball,” Kuhnemann said. “Also just keeping that nice shape. It’s important to have that nice overspin shape in Australia, but also at the same time being able to go with square [spin] and a bit faster if the game gets to day four, when the wickets start to spin. Also sort of working on that square stuff for subcontinent tours as well. I try and work on most aspects of spin bowling, because you never know when your next tour is going to be.”Therein lies the problem for Australia’s domestic spinners. Getting a game at home in the Shield has been hard enough for Kuhnemann, but getting enough bowling in helpful spinning conditions is a major issue in preparing for Test assignments overseas as the second option to Lyon.Domestic pitches in Australia in recent years have been especially unkind to spinners. Five-wicket hauls have been scarce and hardly any regulars average under 30. Kuhnemann, Lyon and Swepson are the only bowlers with 10-wicket match hauls in the last four seasons. There was a time where some teams were playing without a specialist spinner, so seam-friendly were some of the surfaces.Tasmania have committed to playing a specialist spinner, with Jarrod Freeman being a regular in their line-up in all conditions over the past couple of seasons. Coach Jeff Vaughan is delighted to have recruited Kuhnemann and hopes to use him as an attacking weapon, even on a seam-friendly day one pitch at Bellerive Oval.Matt Kuhnemann is set to be Tasmania’s No. 1 spinner this season•Getty Images”He’s quality young man,” Vaughan told ESPNcricinfo. “He’s come in and really invested in Tasmania and into our program. We’ve been very proactive in picking spin, and we’ll continue to do so. We think that Matt has a wonderful skill set and can be utilized, be it early on in the Shield game, or later on, offensively or defensively.”We’re just hoping to add to his career and help him become the best version of himself and an even bigger and stronger performer in both red and white-ball formats.”But it will be a tough assignment playing five games this season in Hobart to prepare for a tour of Sri Lanka. Shield spinners have averaged 43.72 at Bellerive in the last four seasons and struck at 82.6.O’Keefe hopes Australia’s selectors judge him fairly based on the conditions he bowls in when assessing him for Sri Lanka, and that Kuhnemann is lenient on himself with his own expectations.”It’s a tough assignment,” O’Keefe said. “I think you’ve got to be judging him a little bit differently. It’s an opportunity for him to get more overs under his belt. But if he doesn’t necessarily have a lot of success or take the five-fors and the big-wicket hauls that you might get bowling elsewhere, I don’t think we can judge him on that.”I think it’s the right move for him in regards to being able to play a lot more first-class cricket and be the frontline spinner, which comes with a lot of responsibility.”Kuhnemann is up for the challenge. He opened the bowling for Australia in his first Test match having been plying away in 2nd XI cricket for his state not long before that. He’s proven responsibility doesn’t faze him.”Jeff sees spin as an attacking option at Bellerive, which really excites me,” Kuhnemann said. “So if it’s early in the game, or if it’s in the back end, trying to try to win the game for the boys, and trying to bowl into some foot marks, I think there’s definitely some overs to be bowled by a spinner Bellerive.”I’m ready for any opportunity.”