Nathan Coulter-Nile

A talented fast-bowler from Western Australia, Nathan Coulter Nile has been regarded as a fantastic limited-overs player for a long time. With an energetic run-up and an ability to get pace and bounce from most surfaces, it has only been injuries that have prevented him from going for higher honours.

After representing both Western Australia and Australia in age-group matches, Coulter-Nile graduated to senior cricket seamlessly. It was a bumper 2012-13 season which came out as a turning point in the fast bowler’s career. Superb performances in both the Sheffield Shield and the domestic One-Day Cup saw him bag the Laurie Sawle Medal for Western Australia’s Player of the season. 

A couple of consistent seasons in the Big Bash League also Coulter-Nile making his T20I debut for Australia against the West Indies in February 2013. He was then called up for the Champions Trophy in England but wasn’t picked in any of the games. It was the A-team Tri-series in South Africa that catapulted Coulter-Nile for an ODI spot as he fared well with 104 runs and six wickets in four matches. Consequently, he was picked for the limited-overs matches during Australia’s tour of England. 

It was in the home ODI series in early 2014 where Coulter Nile impressed with eight wickets in the series. Thereafter, the pacer struggled to nail down a spot both due to the strength of the Australian pace bowling department and his own injuries. This meant that he was reduced to making one-off appearances when the main bowlers were rested or injured. 

Apart from a late 2014 ODI series against South Africa, Coulter-Nile only managed to get through a complete set of matches against India in September 2017.  In the same year, the Osborne Park-born seamer gave up first-class cricket due to a serious back injury. This was only an addition to the hamstring and shoulder troubles as Coulter-Nile struggled to stay on the pitch for a consistent period of time. 

Just ahead of the 2019 World Cup, Coulter-Nile made yet another comeback into the Australian team for the limited-overs tour of India. After impressing in the ODI and T20I matches, Coulter-Nile made it to the squad for the Pakistan series where he was impressed with his wicket-taking form. This kind of form made it impossible for the Australian selectors to ignore Coulter-Nile for the World Cup in England. The tournament didn’t go superbly especially with the ball but he did make an impact with his 92-run knock to pull Australia out of deep trouble in a group game against the West Indies. This was also his first half-century in ODIs. 

In terms of the IPL, Coulter Nile first got a taste of the tournament in 2013 when he was picked by Mumbai Indians for $450K. However, he only got one match in a season which saw Mumbai going onto lift their first-ever IPL title. Till date, Coulter-Nile has been able to have impressive seasons only in 2015 and 2017 as he has been troubled by the same old enemy in the form of injuries. Aged 33 years old now, time is running out for Coulter-Nile as a career that promised so much threatens to be a side note.