Marshall in ahead of Astle?

According to the Dominion Post, it looks likely that Skippy Sinclair will be opening with Mark Richardson on the Bangladesh tour and that Hamish Marshall and Nathan Astle will be fighting for the one open spot in the middle order.

This is an interesting proposition. Sinclair should do well opening against a Bangladesh side in spinner friendly conditions, but if he is successful does that mean he should be retained as opener against Australia in conditions and against bowlers far more suited to swing and seam? I still have my doubts about Matthew's technique when he starts an innings. The static feet mean that when his eye is in the stroke-play is wristy and glorious, but when his eye is not in and the ball is moving - he gets himself into trouble. Could his selection simply be a temporary measure until Papps returns to fitness? Possibly, and that could leave us with a very pleasant conundrum later in the season - with Astle, Marshall and Sinclair all pushing each other for the middle order spot.

The battle between Astle and Marshall is an interesting one in itself. Marshall is the young up and comer who still has a lot to prove and I suspect many of you are surprised to hear that he could even think of competing with Astle. But Nathan's form since his return from injury has not been that good, and he has a history of taking a long time to warm into the season. I suspect that if you pitched both into a match right now Marshall would outdo Astle, but later in the season with some batting under his belt and a working knee I am betting Astle will be an automatic choice.