He had suffered the injury in the recent BBL.
Ahead of the upcoming two-match SL vs AUS Test series, stand-in skipper Steve Smith has expressed his surprise at how quickly spinner Matthew Kuhnemann recovered from a thumb dislocation to storm into contention to play the opening Test against Sri Lanka, starting January 29.
What had happened was that the Queensland spinner suffered a thumb dislocation during the Big Bash League (BBL) fixture between the Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes, which forced him to undergo surgery ahead of the Sri Lanka tour. Fortunately, Kuhnemann suffered the injury on his non-bowling hand and has recovered quickly to be able to fulfil his duties.
There’s now a chance that the 28-year-old could feature in the playing XI for the series opener alongside Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy depending upon the conditions in Galle.
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Addressing the media ahead of the first Test between Australia and Sri Lanka, Smith acknowledged Kuhnemann’s quick recovery with a hilarious statement suggesting that the left-arm spinner is a tremendous actor or possesses an incredible tolerance for pain.
Notably, Smith also lauded the surgeon for doing an incredible job on Matthew Kuhnemann to get him ready for the series.
Smith said according to Cricket.com.au, “Apparently the surgeon’s done an incredible job for him to be able to field and do some of the things he (Kuhnemann) has been able to do the last couple of days, we’re a bit gobsmacked. Either he’s a tremendous actor or he’s got great pain tolerance, but he’s ticked all the boxes and should be ready to go. We’d love to name a team as early as possible but things can change really quickly in this part of the world.”
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