Astle does it by the book on fine day for tourists

To overcome Queensland's bowlers, you need to think and play positively. To be ready to meet Australia, you need not only to do that but to be feeling confident too. So full marks to Nathan Astle who effectively killed each of those two birds with one very fine century, leading New Zealand to a score of 6/332 as its tour match against the Bulls opened at the 'Gabba today.

When the itinerary for this New Zealand tour was drafted several months ago, it had always been anticipated that this game would prove crucial to Test preparations. That the party was ultimately forced to come to Australia early in the wake of its abandoned trip to Pakistan - and that it has encountered two weeks of toil against a series of state second eleven teams - significantly accentuated the fact.

But, while some outsiders were accordingly inclined to view these as desperate times for the visitors, Astle (160*) for one showed there was absolutely no need to resort to desperate measures.

Against a state team generally regarded as possessing the best attack in Australian domestic competition, the 30-year old right hander unfurled an innings that was so littered with shots from the textbook that its publishers should be able to use it to advance their preparations for a reprint.

With captain Stephen Fleming (69) and Chris Cairns (39) also in heartening form, it was an encouraging day overall for the tourists. Albeit that they had by far the best of the conditions on a docile pitch.

After they had won the toss - on a warm day framed by blue sky almost everywhere on the horizon - the odds were probably always in favour of at least one of the visitors' batsmen producing a meaningful innings. But this didn't prevent Matthew Bell (1), Mark Richardson (11) and Mathew Sinclair (16) from being removed inside the first hour.

Courtesy of a mid-pitch tumble, Bell would have been run out by metres and by as early as the second over if there had been a direct hit at the bowler's end from Ashley Noffke. But the miss scarcely altered the early trend of the contest.

Andy Bichel (2/54) soon produced a delivery which pitched just short of length and trapped the 24-year old in front of his stumps as he attempted to shuffle across them and defend off the back foot.

Richardson failed to last either, handing left arm debutant Mitchell Johnson (1/43) a wicket in soft fashion. Instead of working a half volley on the line of leg stump square of the wicket, he merely succeeded in spooning the ball into the mid wicket area to present Noffke with a simple, waist high catch.

And Sinclair, after a scratchy stay, ended his exhibition in meek style too as he failed to move his feet in chasing and bottom edging a wide delivery from Noffke (1/60) himself.

Once into an exposed middle order, Queensland generally takes only fractionally more time to polish off its opponent than it does most people to eat their breakfast.

Yet, suddenly, there was no way through here.

Fleming started particularly watchfully, and it still remains a mystery as to how he managed to keep the outside edge of his bat marginally inside the line of the very first delivery he received.

For the next three hours, though, he and Astle were rarely bothered.

Until the captain finally succumbed to a mistimed drive at part-time medium pacer Clinton Perren (1/15) that ended at short mid off, they dominated proceedings with a 175-run liaison replete with brilliant shotmaking.

There was, fleetingly, a nervous patch for Astle shortly after tea, and he dodged a bullet at 95 when second slip fieldsman Jimmy Maher appeared to lose sight of an edged shot that went whistling past him at perfectly catchable height.

Yet there were few other false moves from him at any stage in his occupation.

In the course of recording his highest score outside New Zealand - and shattering his previous best first-class score in Australia of 40 - he expertly dispatched short deliveries off the back foot and was even more impressive off the front. Two powerful sixes - over long off and long on respectively - crowned an exhibition littered with bruising strokes.

Once able to discover his timing in the half-hour before lunch, Fleming for his part played characteristically strongly through mid off and the covers. He also struck several scorching drives back past the members of a predominantly pace-based attack.

That the Queensland bowlers encountered the unfamiliar experience of struggling for line and delivering an incessant stream of no balls said something about the extent to which the terms were being dictated to them. It has been a long time since the Bulls last found themselves requiring two of their number to snare their opening first-class wickets to help rally the cause.