Richard Boock: Selectors' actions leave Astle feeling rebuffed
28.02.06
Don't be surprised if there's another twist in the Nathan Astle story.
Within the space of a month, the man who engineered New Zealand's win at Christchurch has moved from being vulnerable to being an automatic selection for the one-day squad, a journey that's taken a dramatic toll on his sense of trust and confidence.
It might have been all beer and skittles for a couple of moments at Jade Stadium on Saturday night, but Astle is clearly still carrying the scars from his earlier axings, and his simmering resentment is unlikely to dissipate quickly.
Normally stoic and difficult to read, he was almost speechless with anger at a press conference following his match-winning and unbeaten 90 against Sri Lanka last month, when he was drafted in as a late replacement and told immediately afterwards that he'd been dropped again.
He moved from looking confused, to looking deeply unhappy, to looking betrayed and even exploited, a not unnatural reaction given coach John Bracewell's hard-line selection tactics.
It became so bad that it's now believed that Astle was considering immediate retirement from the game last month, and went as far as talking to confidantes about his options while spelling out his distrust in the selectors.
Even after the dizzy heights of Saturday night, Astle appeared a couple of degrees removed from the excitement afterwards, and almost choked while delivering the party line, that the experience had been beneficial for him.
The question now is whether Bracewell and his fellow selectors have really won, or whether the gamble may yet cost them everything at the worst possible time.
History is littered with examples of sporting figures who have battled back from a selection rebuff to make themselves indispensable, before giving the decision-makers what could only be interpreted as the middle finger.
Only this month Astle watched in dismay as long-time teammate Chris Cairns controversially ended his career after being targeted by Bracewell, and a similar response cannot be ruled out over the next few months.
Cairns was dumped from the team that toured South Africa before fighting his way back for the Chappell-Hadlee series, and was looking in vintage form with the bat when he abruptly turned his back on the selection panel.
Double All Black Jeff Wilson was another to respond strongly to adversity, fighting back after an initial snub from John Mitchell to enjoy a superb Super 12 season for the Highlanders, before opting to pull the pin on his career.
Astle is a level-headed 34-year-old, a husband and father of one (soon to be two), and the most influential one-day batsman in New Zealand history.
Yet his brooding dissatisfaction over his treatment this year has caused him to examine far more than merely his batting strategy; it's prompted him to take a step back and look at the bigger picture, to reinforce what is dear to him.
With that in mind, New Zealand fans and almost certainly the selectors as well, will be hoping that cricket figures somewhere near the top of his priority list for the next 12 months, and particularly for the challenges looming in Australia and the Caribbean.
For all that - and here's a tip - I wouldn't be sprinting down to the betting shop just yet.
