Adam Parore: Astle episode shows selectors raising their game

If I were Nathan Astle, I'd take my treatment from the national selectors this week as a backhanded compliment.

Here he is, our most successful one-day batsman ever, told to go back to domestic cricket to improve his form.

Then he's called back in because of Stephen Fleming's withdrawal; then made the supersub at Christchurch in the third ODI against Sri Lanka, where he hits a match-winning 90; then to be told nothing's changed and go back to the State Shield.

On the surface it might seem a strange situation. But I can appreciate where the selectors are coming from, and I suspect Astle, although he'd be justified in being rather bemused by it all, might too.

Since he came into the New Zealand team about 11 years ago, Astle has hit test or ODI centuries against every team except Bangladesh. He has won us ODIs and with 15 hundreds is our most successful limited-overs batsman by a mile.

But I reckon the selectors have recognised that he needs to add more elements to his game before next year's World Cup.

There's a feeling the world's better teams have finally worked out Nathan's strategy; that he's become a bit predictable. Frankly, I'm surprised it has taken them this long.

So the selectors want him to re-invent aspects of his batting.

Astle has been immensely successful through doing three things extremely well: he attacks anything with width, off both back and front foot; he defends pretty well and straight; and he hits over the top early.

We've all seen those flaying drives in the arc from extra cover to point early on to put momentum into his, and New Zealand's innings.

Once he's settled in, he's an expert accumulator from what was the end of the 15-over restriction through that middle period.

He has built his game round that. It is a very simplistic approach, he does not overcomplicate things and one of his strengths is he doesn't dwell on failures. Astle does not toss and turn at night if he misses out. He just moves on to his next innings.

But I believe the selectors, recognising that the ODI game is changing, want Astle to broaden his game to suit.

That accumulation period seems to me to be drifting out of the game in favour of batsmen being expected to keep their foot down right through the innings.

The selectors are effectively saying: "Go back to Canterbury and fine-tune your game."

When have New Zealand previously had the luxury of leaving out their best batsman? Hardly ever, I'd suggest.

But the Sri Lankans are perfect opposition for John Bracewell and his fellow selectors to test out some new faces.

They're a good team, but they aren't intimidating like, say, Australia or England or South Africa.

They won't get under the skins of Jamie How and Peter Fulton, and consequently those batsmen have had a chance to get their feet under the table and have done reasonably well.

I'm certain Astle will make the necessary changes. He's too good a player not to, and I'm sure he'll be around come World Cup time in the Caribbean early next year.

But his situation tells us good things about the selectors. That they are prepared to sit out New Zealand's best batsman in the interests of developing an even better team shows they have the overall good of the side in mind ahead of furthering longstanding careers.

They did the same when they left Chris Cairns out of the tour of South Africa last year, and I'm not sure that's always been the case with past selection panels, who've sometimes taken the easy option instead of challenging the established order to continue improving themselves.

You can see it in their keeping Daniel Vettori on as captain when Stephen Fleming returned against the Australians.

And hasn't Vettori's leadership been an asset. He's got a fresh approach, provides a new voice and in tactical terms he doesn't mind a bit of experimentation.

Vettori has always been a smart cricketer, an astute thinker and he's shown we have a long-term option as captain.

My view is that Fleming, whose first child arrived this week, will discover his priorities changing. I'll bet he's thinking more about life after cricket than he was a month ago.

And we've now got Vettori groomed to take over when the time is right.


* Adam Parore scored more test and one-day runs than any other New Zealand wicketkeeper