Cricket: Astle slowly working way back to batting best

Nathan Astle

Nathan Astle hasn't completely regained the touch that made him one of the world's most dangerous one-day batsmen, but he's learning to live with it.

The man-of-the-match in Monday night's second one-dayer against the World XI, Astle took another step towards recapturing his best form when he carved out 109 at the Cake Tin, effectively saving New Zealand's innings from ignominy.

It was not quite vintage Astle, but for a man who had missed the greater part of last year after operations on each knee, it was an encouraging sign and a major morale-booster for the New Zealand side.

Astle said the search for his best form had been a slow one, but he was hoping to build on his improvement in today's decider.

"I haven't been feeling as good at the crease as I wanted, but I'm still getting runs, which is pretty good," he said. "One of the things I appreciate now is that you don't have to be feeling a million dollars to do well."

With injuries to Jacob Oram and Daniel Vettori, the prospect of an improving Astle will come as some relief for the New Zealand camp, who will need to be at their best next month to challenge Australia.

Apart from Monday's hundred, the 33-year-old has already scored 14 ODI centuries and his influence has usually been a critical component in any major success New Zealand have enjoyed over the past seven or eight years.

He believes New Zealand should make a better fist of today's showdown and learn from the mistakes they made in Wellington, when they were initially set up for a total approaching 290, but lost their way and were restricted to 256.

As much as Astle enjoyed reaching his milestone, he was a shade disappointed to have received little support at the other end.

"We put the reins on ourselves, I think, by losing wickets at regular intervals. Every time we got a partnership going we lost a wicket and I think that cost us in the end."

However, on a more positive note, Astle also made a successful return to the bowling crease on Monday and appears likely to continue playing a more prominent role with the ball today and against Australia.

He said the most difficult hurdle was not so much regaining his rhythm, but convincing coach John Bracewell and skipper Stephen Fleming that his surgically repaired knees could take the pounding.

"I've had to twist a few arms to get back to the bowling crease but the knees have felt good and probably even feel better when I bowl."

Meanwhile, World XI all-rounder and former Australian World Cup star Andy Bichel has given the thumbs up to Jeff Wilson, the double international who further enhanced his reputation with a much improved bowling spell at Wellington.

Wilson was the most economic of the New Zealand bowlers and demonstrated his natural athleticism while diving for a caught-and-bowled off Lance Klusener.

Bichel said he thought Wilson looked the goods.

"I think he hits the bat pretty hard, he's got some options and coming in late in the order he can obviously hit the ball as well, so I think he's a great bonus to the team."

The teams

New Zealand v World XI

Westpac Park, Hamilton, today 2pm.

* New Zealand (from): Stephen Fleming (capt), Nathan Astle, Mathew Sinclair, Scott Styris, Craig McMillan, Hamish Marshall, Chris Cairns, Brendon McCullum, Jeff Wilson, Kyle Mills, Paul Wiseman, Daryl Tuffey

* World XI (from): Shane Warne (capt), Greg Blewett , Matthew Elliott, Andy Bichel, Ian Harvey (Australia), Nick Knight, Graeme Hick (England), Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara, Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka), Craig Spearman (New Zealand), Heath Streak (Zimbabwe), Jonty Rhodes (South Africa)