Nathan Coulter-Nile ruled out with lumbar bone stress injury

Nathan Coulter-Nile, the Australian pacer, returned home early from the ongoing tour of Sri Lanka with a back injury. An MRI scan revealed a lumbar bone stress injury on his lower back.
 
It is not the first time that the Western Australian has been ruled out of action. However, the latest injury is expected to keep him out for a "lengthy rehab period."


"After returning to Australia, Nathan underwent an MRI scan which has unfortunately revealed a lumbar bone stress injury in his lower back," said David Beakley, the team physiotherapist, on Monday (August 29).
Coulter-Nile dislocated his right shoulder while attempting a catch in the fifth edition of the Big Bash League late last year, an injury that that cost him a place in the Boxing Day Test against West Indies. Couple of months prior to that, he injured his left shoulder in the Matador BBQ's One-Day Cup.

However, Beakley believes this back injury is a serious one and will keep him out for a long time. "He will now enter a lengthy rehabilitation period with his return to play will be determined in due course," he said.

Pat Cummins also suffered early stages of lumbar bone stress fracture and returned to competitive cricket only a week ago, after a long 11-monthrecuperationperiod.The speedster played a trial game for New South Wales against Queensland, where he recorded figures of 0 for 21 in a low-key outing. Geoff Lawson, the assistant coach of NSW, is keeping a close eye on him.

"Everyone wants to see him get through a summer, and that's why the build-up through this season has been really gradual," Lawson said.

"It's just taking the next step on the ladder and not getting ahead of ourselves. That's the plan heading into the early competitions of the season - not overdoing it in one-day cricket, two-day club cricket, four-day Second XI cricket.So you just make it gradual, you plan as best as you can, and then you cross your fingers."

Meanwhile, the Victorian duo of Peter Siddle and James Pattinson are also close to returning to action. The former is scheduled to be fit for the start of the domestic season, while there is no exact date set on the latter."He's (Pattinson) working hard to have his body in the physical shape required to sustain the demands of bowling when the time comes," Andrew Lynch,Victoria's chairman of selectors, said.

"We don't have a definitive date for his return yet, but his strong progress to date is promising heading into summer."