Former teammates went head to head on Sunday afternoon when the ACT took on the Southern Tablelands and South East composite team at Canberra's Jamison Oval for a shot at selection in the ACT Southern Districts side.
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Brad Smith and Josh Watling, who both used to play in Goulburn, took to the field for the ACT against three of their former compatriots: Archie Wearne, Andrew Tivey, and Jock Cartwright.
"It was a little bit [strange]," Smith said.
"Definitely felt a bit weird to be on the ACT team, particularly against Goulburn [players], but I guess it's probably fair enough given me and Watto [Watling] play in the Canberra comp."
The ACT won the toss and batted first, but struggled with the pitch in the early stages of the innings, particularly when Tivey claimed three quick wickets.
Having stumbled to 3-20, the ACT slowly began to rebuild thanks to a resolute 30 from opener Josh Myburgh and a crucial innings of 82 from Dylan Faram.
Esam Rahman (36) and Luke Ryan (48*) both formed strong partnerships with Faram and carried the ACT to a total of 8-252.
The standout bowler for the first innings was Tivey, who added three more wickets to his tally to finish with 6-36 for the innings.
"That's only the second time I've rolled the arm over [this season]," Tivey said.
"I wanted to save myself for today, because I was too sore the week before ... I bowled last Saturday and didn't do too well, so I had the week off to save myself for today."
The break obviously worked for Tivey, but he acknowledged the pitch as a key factor in his returns.
"It was a bit two-paced, you've just got to play straight on it as a batsman," he said.
"The guys at the other end were helping me out, bowling in partnerships."
The Southern Tablelands and South East team began their innings in similar fashion to the ACT, falling to 3-21 early.
Once again, it was left to the middle order to resurrect the innings, which Cartwright (50) and Adam Blacka (54) proceeded to do.
However, the pair did not have the same support from the lower order, and once they were dismissed, the innings crumbled for 167.
The ACT Southern Districts side selected from this match will play in next month's Country Championships, to be held in Goulburn.
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