New Zealand selectors Ross Dykes, Steve Rixon, and Rick Pickard signalled a possible career change for Astle by naming him as an opener for the New Zealand A team to play Pakistan A, at Hamilton, from Friday.
A forthright and successful opener in one-day cricket, Astle has been a specialist middle-order batsman at first-class level for Canterbury and New Zealand.
Astle, 27, will be joined by Wellington's Matthew Bell, 21, against the Pakistan second XI. They are on trial to open with Matt Horne in the first test against India, at Dunedin, from December 18.
Recent test openers Bryan Young, Craig Spearman, Blair Pocock, and Roger Twose have been swept aside to make way for Astle. ``They have given me that challenge and I'm pretty happy to give it a go. It's obviously a new thing they are looking at,'' said Astle yesterday.
``I don't want to change my game at all. The biggest thing for me will be tightening up around the off stump, and my leaving.
``There is no point in me going out there and trying to turn myself into an (orthodox) opener because that's not the way I play.
``I kind of relate myself to someone like (Australian) Michael Slater and guys like that who go out and attack the ball.''
Astle did just that in his only previous experience at the top of the New Zealand test order, when 288 runs were needed from a minimum 61 overs to beat Australia at Hobart late last year.
With Young dropped to No. 6, Horne and Astle rattled on 72 runs in 39 minutes from 52 balls. Astle's contribution was 40 off 37 balls.
The New Zealand innings lost its way after that. Last pair Simon Doull and Shayne O'Connor eventually held out for 38 minutes to draw the game at 223 for nine.
Although Astle has never opened for Canterbury in Shell Trophy cricket, the new ball holds no fears for him.
``I've done it in the one-dayers, and by usually coming in at No. 5 you get to face the new ball anyway. I don't think it's anything too new for me,'' he said.
No-one will be hoping Astle succeeds more than his Canterbury and New Zealand A team-mate, Chris Harris, who again faces being squeezed out of the test middle-order.
``He's had a good conference series and he's looking at getting the No. 5 or No. 6 spot,'' said Astle of Harris.
``If it comes off for me as an opener it opens a spot down there and, going by the conference series, I'd say (Harris) is the guy who would be selected.'' Bell has steadily emerged as a test opener in the making, without doing enough in conference cricket to clinch the role. He scored three half-centuries in five innings, but failed to advance beyond 60.
However, if Bell is to be introduced this season he would surely have a more comfortable initiation against India than a South African bowling battery spearheaded by Allan Donald and arriving in February.
So Horne is seemingly Dunedin bound, Bell has another chance to prove he is ready, and Astle is the bolter who, in a couple of hours, could change the thinking. Canterbury's third New Zealand A representative, top-order batsman Craig McMillan, will be expected to produce a big innings. His batting has been overshadowed by some outstandingly effective bowling in recent weeks.
New Zealand A team: Dion Nash (captain), Nathan Astle, Mark Bailey, Matthew Bell, Simon Doull, Chris Drum, Chris Harris, Craig McMillan, Shayne O'Connor, Adam Parore, Daniel Vettori, Paul Wiseman.