Cricket-Coulter-Nile faces 'lengthy' recovery after back injury

MELBOURNE, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Australia fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile has been diagnosed with a bone stress injury in his lower back and will require a "lengthy rehabilitation period", the country's cricket board said on Monday. The 28-year-old paceman was sent back from Sri Lanka due to a lower back injury, ruling him out of part of the one-day international series and the two Twenty20 matches. "After returning to Australia, Nathan underwent an MRI scan which has unfortunately revealed a lumbar bone stress injury in his lower back," Cricket Australia physiotherapist David Beakley said in a statement. "He will now enter a lengthy rehabilitation period with his return to play will be determined in due course." After their tour of Sri Lanka, Australia travel to South Africa for a limited-overs series before they host the Proteas at the start of a packed home schedule. (Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; Editing by John O'Brien)