Cricket: Astle's mind games

Nathan Astle's form has always been a bit like adventure tourism: one month he seems to be plunging towards a messy end, the next he's been yanked up to stratospheric heights as if on a massive bungy.

Currently, his astrologist would say he's in an ascendent phase.

Since the aborted Sri Lankan tour he has scored 717 runs at an average of 65.2. He's taken wickets at a miserly rate.

But the numbers are barely important. What matters is the fact that Astle, at the age of 33, has learned how to score runs when he's not in form.

"The biggest adjustment I've made is a mental one. In the past when I was a little bit out of nick I'd try and hit my way out of it rather than doing some hard yards and spending a bit of time at the crease," Astle admitted.

"Over this summer I haven't felt the best but I've still been getting runs which, for me, is a big mental adjustment."

As a follower, it has always been relatively easy to tell when Astle has been out of form; his pads take a hammering.

"If I'm playing well I tend to hit more through mid-wicket to mid-on and pick the ones off my legs," he said. "But if I'm not [in form] then I'm getting rapped on the pads and that's usually from being a little anxious and moving too early.

"At the moment I'm focusing on being relaxed and moving as late as I can."

It's working, but Astle has been around long enough to know that "cricket is a fickle game and you do have your good times and your bad times".

Last year Astle went through a very bad time. Between the first test against England in June and the second test against Australia in November, Astle went nine innings without passing 50.

His record in ODIs was slightly better but the Astle of old who could indiscriminately plunder attacks looked a fading memory. It was wondered out loud whether Astle had the motivation to lift his game again. He's proved he has.

"The older you get the more mentally attuned to your game you are; you should know what you need to get out of your slump," he said.

"As I said before, this time I've found something I think has taken me so long to find and get comfortable with.

"On the other side of the coin the younger guys have got that natural confidence. The Brendon McCullums and those guys are full of confidence, but it's a two-way thing. As you get older you learn more about yourself and the game - you learn how to cope with certain situations."

He would be the first to admit a return to the bowling crease after operations on both knees has renewed his interest in the sport. He is adamant he wants to play a bigger role with the ball for the Black Caps.

"Absolutely. It keeps me involved in the game and even if I'm not bowling, there's a chance that I may bowl.

"We've [John Bracewell, Stephen Fleming] talked about it and we've come to the situation where I'm there if they need me to be used. To be fair, Flem has not used me a lot in recent times but that's probably a good thing because it means our bowlers are doing the job.

"In saying that, some of the wickets we've been playing on have been pretty average and they suit my sort of bowling."

The prospect of bowling to the likes of Adam Gilchrist and Michael Clarke might not enthuse others so much but, rather than be daunted, Astle says he can't wait for Australia to get here.

"We competed with them in the one-day series over there and we'll have six of them to start off with."

Although they got a bit of a pasting in the two tests in November, Astle says the team would not make the mistake of over-analysing the Australians.

"We'll sit down and concentrate a bit more on our game. I don't think we were on top of our game over there. Maybe we tried to combat them a little bit too much. I'm sure Flem and Braces will have something that we can talk about but I just get the feeling it will be a bit more about us and what we can do as a team.

"Sometimes you get caught up in who you're playing and, to be honest, it's just another guy bowling a cricket ball."

Nathan Astle wins the Deloitte Domestic Cricketer of the Month Award for January and takes home a 29" Panasonic TV.