Coulter-Nile ruled out for 8-12 weeks

Injured quick Nathan Coulter-Nile will not require surgery on his dislocated right shoulder and is eyeing a return in time for Australia's World Twenty20 campaign in March.

However, the Perth Scorchers paceman will miss at least eight weeks - and as many as 12 - while he recovers from the injury, meaning he will sit out the remainder of the KFC Big Bash League and also Australia's limited-overs series against India in late January.

Coulter-Nile is also unlikely to feature in Australia's two-Test and five-ODI tour of New Zealand in February, leaving selectors searching for yet another fast bowler to fill the void, with Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins also on the sidelines due to injury.

Twenty-eight-year-old Coulter-Nile was named in Australia's squads for the Boxing Day and SCG Tests before the injury, suffered when he slipped and fell in a freak accident at the WACA Ground against the Adelaide Strikers last week.

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His unavailability could open the door for Victorian Scott Boland – called in to replace Coulter-Nile in the Test squad – to be included for the tour of New Zealand, while top Sheffield Shield wicket takers Joe Mennie, Jackson Bird, Andrew Fekete or even highly rated Western Australian youngster Joel Paris could also be in contention for selection.

"Medical staff in consultation with shoulder specialists have decided that Coulter-Nile will avoid surgery and rehabilitate his injured shoulder conservatively over the next eight to 12 weeks," a statement from Perth Scorchers said.

"Coulter-Nile will rehabilitate his shoulder in WA with an aim of being available for selection for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in India in March 2016."

Coulter-Nile will also hope to be fit in time to travel to South Africa with Australia to play three T20 Internationals from March 4-9 to prepare for the World T20, where Australia will kick off their campaign against New Zealand on March 18 in Dharamshala.

The shoulder injury continued Coulter-Nile's horror run in 2015; he suffered a calf strain on Australia's limited-overs tour of England in September and a shoulder injury in the Matador BBQs One-Day Cup a month later, ruling him out of the early rounds of the Sheffield Shield.

The right-armer also damaged his hamstring playing for Australia in one-day cricket in November 2014, forcing him out of contention for the 2015 Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

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