Australian fast bowler, Nathan Coulter-Nile, is set for a lengthy stint on the sidelines as revealed by Justin Langer, the Western Australia Coach.
The 28-year-old, who has played 16 One Day Internationals and 17 Twenty20 International for Australia coach, is likely to miss the entire domestic season after suffering a lumbar bone stress fracture to his lower back during the recent tour of Sri Lanka.
The Western Australian has had an injury plagued career and the latest setback is particularly cruel with the paceman on the cusp of a Test debut. Australia’s third paceman spot behind spearheads Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood is seemingly open and Coulter-Nile would have fancied his chances of making his Test debut at home against South Africa in November after being close to selection several times in recent years.
Langer, though, has all but confirmed that his strike bowler would be absent for the entirety of the Australian summer. “I can’t believe it, sitting here now and (knowing I’m) unlikely to have my strike bowler available,” Langer said on Wednesday (September 28). “That hurts Australian cricket and West Australian cricket. It hurts him as well.”
Langer, however, was confident that the tall and bustling bowler would once again emerge as a candidate for higher honours.
“He’s 28 now. He’s still got a few more good years in him, and hopefully, he’ll get rewarded down the track,” Langer said. “If you look at his career, he hasn’t bowled much at all. How resilient his body is, time will tell. He’ll certainly be doing everything he can to get back out on the park.”
Meanwhile, the Warriors will be without star players Shaun Marsh and Ashton Agar for the early stages of the Matador Cup due to injury. Marsh and Agar have been replaced by right armed paceman Josh Nicholas and left-handed batsman D’Archy short.