By RICHARD BOOCK in Bloemfontein
Like the first Voortrekkers who pitched camp in Bloemfontein about 150 years ago, Nathan Astle has arrived in the City of Roses with just one thought occupying his mind - a change of fortune.
The man who so often dictates New Zealand's fate in the one-day arena
is hoping to make a strong start in the World Cup opener against Sri Lanka tonight, even if his tournament record suggests he might have his work cut out.
Possibly this country's finest one-day batsman since Martin Crowe, Astle has proved an enigma at the World Cup, despite starting with a century against England in 1996 at Ahmedabad, and being ranked in the top 10 batsmen in the world.
While many are waiting for the entrance from Sri Lankan skipper Sanath Jayasuriya, Astle is looming as New Zealand's biggest advantage with the bat, if he can only shake the World Cup monkey off his back.
The first New Zealander to score 5000 ODI runs, the hard-hitting Astle has excelled in almost every field apart from the cup, at which he has scored 190 runs at an average of 12.66.
Take out the debut century against England and his scores read: 0, 1, 2, 6, 1, 4, 4, 2, 0, 11, 20, 6, 29 and 3.
Bowlers at the last tournament in England got a lot of seam and made life difficult for the batsmen, Astle said.
"This time we're hopeful of the batsmen having the advantage because the pitches and conditions should all be much better, and the bowlers should be facing a much more challenging situation."
Astle's comments echo the optimism in the New Zealand squad, who have completed a successful build-up in Gauteng province and will try to translate that into victory tonight.
They have forfeited the game against Kenya in Nairobi and face a challenging task to make up for the loss of points. It is therefore imperative that they beat Sri Lanka at Goodyear Park, and the West Indies at Port Elizabeth on Thursday.
Their third pool match, against one of the hosts, South Africa, on Sunday is rated the most difficult. The New Zealanders have never beaten the Proteas in a limited-overs match in the Republic.
"The first three games were always going to be critical for us in that, if we managed to win two of those, we should be able to qualify for the Super Six," Astle said
"We're not feeling overly daunted because we've beaten Sri Lanka and the West Indies in the past, and both those sides have also struggled in South African conditions.
"We've been working very hard and it looks like we'll be playing on good wickets, so our confidence is up."
New Zealand have qualified for four previous semifinals, but Astle said he regarded this squad as the equal of any that had attended, and a dark horse to go all they way.
"This team is right up there with the 1999 side who went to England."
As for his own batting, he said there was enough to be encouraged with this season, particularly now the New Zealanders were playing on flatter pitches than at home, where the medium-pace seamer was often made to look unplayable.
"When you get on a wicket where you know you can play your shots, and that the surface is true, then you automatically feel ... more confident about your chances," Astle said.
"There's always a little bit of seam early on. I've had some 30s and 40s this season and I've felt the ball in the middle of the bat.
"But the time has come when I really need to kick on and turn those into 80s or centuries."
World Cup schedule
Points table
By RICHARD BOOCK in Bloemfontein
Like the first Voortrekkers who pitched camp in Bloemfontein about 150 years ago, Nathan Astle has arrived in the City of Roses with just one thought occupying his mind - a change of fortune.
The man who so often dictates New Zealand's fate in the one-day arena
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