After not playing any Shield cricket last summer, Kuhnemann is expected to join Tasmania, and Burns was left off the contract list because Queensland chose to prioritise youngsters.
While former Test opener Joe Burns has not been given a contract offer as Queensland restructures their squad following a disappointing season, left-arm orthodox Test spinner Matthew Kuhnemann has left Queensland and is expected to travel to Tasmania in an attempt to play more first-class cricket and position himself for the Sri Lankan tour.
After being flown in following the first Test defeat, Kuhnemann, 27, played three Tests for Australia during their tour of India last year. He claimed five wickets at Indore in Australia’s lone triumph.
However, since that Test match, he has not participated in a Sheffield Shield game for Queensland and has not participated in a first-class match since making an appearance for Australia A in September of last year. The Bulls’ preferred number one spinner is legspinner Mitchell Swepson. The conditions in Brisbane and in Shield cricket in general have not been favourable to selecting two spinners in the same XI. As a result, Kuhnemann only made appearances for Queensland in the Marsh Cup and only played red-ball cricket for his Queensland premier club, Gold Coast, and the Second XI.
Kuhnemann will boost Tasmania’s assault after they almost missed out on winning the Shield title by moving there to take over as their top spinner in both Shield and Marsh Cup cricket. He still has a two-year deal to play in the BBL with Brisbane Heat.
Burns, meanwhile, has not been included in Queensland’s contract after not being included in the Shield and Marsh Cup teams during the previous summer. Considering how effectively he had played in the early half of the season, his exclusion from the Shield in February was unexpected. In Hobart, he scored 133 and 55 against Tasmania, who emerged as the ultimate finalists, and 91 in a thrilling fourth-inning chase against South Australia in Brisbane. Prior to the BBL, he also made an undefeated 62 not out against the eventual champions, Western Australia, in a tie against an attack that included Cameron Green and Jhye Richardson.
But when the Bulls were eliminated from contention for the Shield final in the second part of the season, Queensland chose to trial a few young batsmen, even though he was the team’s top run scorer through the first seven games and averaged a solid 37.16 in a season dominated by the bowlers. Due to a family bereavement, he missed significant time with the team towards the end of the season.
Queensland has decided not to extend a contract offer to the 34-year-old. Burns has made four test hundreds in his 23 Test matches for Australia. Additionally, his contract with the Melbourne Stars is ending.
In place of him, the Bulls have promoted rookie Angus Lovell to the contract list. Lovell made his Shield debut last summer and appeared in four games.
For the upcoming season, Queensland has also signed four of Australia’s Under-19 World Cup winners. Hugh Weibgen, who led the Under-19 World Cup winning team, and Callum Vidler, who showed great speed, were awarded full contracts. In the season’s last matchup with New South Wales, Vidler made his Shield debut and claimed five wickets.
Lachlan Aitken and Tom Straker, two more players of the Australia Under-19 squad, have also been awarded rookie contracts. After taking a record-breaking 6 for 24 in the Under-19 World Cup semifinal victory against Pakistan, Straker was recruited from New South Wales.
After losing out on Wade Seccombe as their coach last month, Queensland is still looking for a replacement.