Australia’s breakout star of the Sri Lanka tour Matthew Kuhnemann was reported by match officials for a suspect bowling action during his outstanding series, it has been revealed.

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Code Sports’ Ben Horne and Robert Craddock first reported the left arm spinner will have to undertake mandatory testing within the next two weeks to determine the legality of his action.

That testing is likely to take place at Brisbane’s Centre of Excellence where a bio-mechanist will analyse Kuhnemann’s action and will report their findings back to the International Cricket Council.

But The Age reports “all variations in his repertoire, and not just a specific delivery” are being probed.

It also revealed the ICC would prefer the test be conducted outside of Australia.

The 28-year-old topped the wicket tally in Australia’s 2-0 series triumph with an impressive haul of 16 wickets at 17.18 to become the nation’s most successful left arm spinner in Sri Lanka after recovering from a dislocated and fractured thumb sustained playing for the Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash weeks earlier.

Australian officials were surprised by the news, especially as no issue has been flagged previously in Kuhnemann’s career.

“The Australian team was notified of the match officials’ referral following the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle and will support Matt through the process of clearing this matter,” Cricket Australia said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Matt has played 124 professional matches since his debut in 2017, including five Test matches and four one-day internationals. He has played 55 Big Bash League games since 2018. This is the first time in those eight years of professional cricket that his action been questioned.

“Cricket Australia will liaise closely with the ICC and independent experts in line with ICC regulations. No further comment will be made by Cricket Australia or Matthew until the matter is resolved.”

Kuhnemann will still be able to play for Tasmania in Sheffield Shield cricket while the results of testing are pending, but he cannot participate in international cricket sanctioned by the ICC until he is cleared.

“The match officials’ report cited concerns about the legality of the 28-year-old’s bowling action,” the ICC’s statement said.

“Kuhnemann will undergo an independent assessment of his bowling action at an ICC-accredited testing facility to determine the legality of his bowling action.”

A bowler is permitted 15 degrees of flex with their bowling arm, anything more is deemed illegal.