A dynamic and hard-hitting batsman who has a total of 13 centuries, more than double of his captain, Astle is an all-rounder in both the versions of the game and is a huge asset to the New Zealand side.
His best Test score , 222, came up in The National Bank Series in 2002 against England, which was the fastest double-hundred in history coming off just 153 balls! His innings was a spectacular display of cavalier batting.
Though in prime form, Astle was forced out of action due to a knee injury towards the end of 2003. He is currently sixth on the all-time New Zealand Test batsmen list, having scored 3,730 runs, but he tops the pile in the one-day runs in which he has accumulated well over 5,000 runs.
Astle is a prolific batsman, an expert slip fielder and an occasional partnership-breaker medium pace bowler.
Though he is a definite selection, he has never been considered for the post of captaincy despite his seniority in the side.