Nick gets a Dolphin kick

Gold Coast renaissance opens door in Tasmania

NICK Buchanan’s stint at the Gold Coast Dolphins was pivotal in getting his cricket dreams back on track.

The high-profile pace bowler’s career has been ravaged by injuries.

His last four seasons at University of Queensland totalled to just 16 games.

Buchanan’s fortunes lifted upon joining the Dolphins for 2016-17, where he took 10 wick- ets at an average of 23.40, hit a matchwinning 73 and earned three Big Bash League opportunities for Brisbane Heat.

It also saw Tasmania coach Adam Griffith pick up the phone.

“I was loving my cricket at the Coast and was fortunate to have a decent season there and then the (Tasmania) head coach, Adam Griffith, gave me a call and said that they were interested,” Buchanan said.

The revamped Tigers were looking for fresh blood to bring into their 2017-18 squad and the lure of a multi-year central contract proved too good to refuse for the 26-year-old.

“My dream is still to play for Australia and I felt like that was going to be the best option at the current time to try to fulfil that dream,” he added.

Buchanan’s talent has never been in question; the problem has been being able to string enough games together to show the cricketing world what he is truly capable of.

He got closer this season before yet another injury struck. This time it was achilles trouble.

But the son of former Australia coach John Buchanan remains upbeat.

“Being able to play my first domestic one-day game was an awesome experience,” he said. “And then I got through a bit of four-day cricket which I hadn’t done in years.

“Their plan, it’s a long-term view, and this year was all about setting a base.”

The focus now turns to converting his progress into bigger and better things in 2018-19, starting with being fit and firing by June for the next preseason.