Australia’s leading wicket-taker in Sri Lanka Tests Matthew Kuhnemann has been reported for a suspected illegal bowling motion during last week’s second Test at Galle. Kuhneman, who claimed 16 wickets within the two matches in Galle, was the topic of a post-match report, Cricket Australia confirmed. He’ll now shall be required to undergo an assessment to find out whether his motion is legal. Should his motion be deemed illegal following the assessment, the 28-year-old shall be suspended from bowling until his motion has been modified and a subsequent assessment is passed.
Kuhnemann is currently clear to proceed playing domestic cricket for Tasmania but can be unable to bowl at international level while his motion is assessed.
“The Australian team was notified of the match officials’ referral following the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle and can support Matt through the technique of clearing this matter,” CA said in a press release, as quoted by cricket.com.au.
“Matt has played 124 skilled matches since his debut in 2017, including five Test matches and 4 one-day internationals. He has played 55 Big Bash League games since 2018.
“That is the primary time in those eight years of skilled cricket that his motion been questioned. Cricket Australia will liaise closely with the ICC and independent experts according to ICC regulations.
“No further comment shall be made by Cricket Australia or Matthew until the matter is resolved,” it added.
Under ICC protocols, an illegal bowling motion is defined as being where the player’s elbow extends by an amount of greater than 15 degrees between their arm reaching the horizontal and the ball being released.
Match officials in international cricket use the naked eye and their cricketing experience to come to a decision whether or not they consider a player could also be using an illegal bowling motion, and, in that case, they may submit a report.
The player is then tested at an ICC-accredited testing centre, using state-of-the-art technology and supervised by experts within the science of human movement. This testing process provides a solution as as to if the player is, in actual fact, using an illegal bowling motion, and, in that case, they shall be suspended from bowling until they’ve modified their bowling motion and undertaken one other test successfully.
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