Aformer Barber Shield cricketer vied for man-of-the-match honours in a unique cricket match on Sunday.


Member for Barker Tony Pasin led a team of fellow politicians onto the hallowed turf of Canberra’s Chisholm Oval.


The “pollies” were combatted against the Canberra press corps in their annual contest and came off second-best.


Pasin did much of the heavy lifting as he won the toss, made a hard-hitting 28, captured two key wickets and held one catch.


His team batted first and made 191 for the loss of six wickets in its 35 overs.


In reply, the press gallery reached the target with almost six overs to spare and with six wickets in hand.


The most high-profile of the pollies were ex-Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and his fellow National MP and one-time cabinet colleague Senator Matt Canavan.


The press corps again had television commentator Andrew Probyn as their leader.


He has had a tumultuous year since the last pollies/press corps match in 2023 with redundancy from the ABC and then a new challenge with the Nine television network.


Most of the journalists work for newspapers while James Glenday has a much higher profile through his regular ABC television appearances.


Pasin and Probyn enjoy some good-natured banter in the public domain.


The Liberal MP for Barker since 2013, Pasin himself has been in good form as he recently top-scored with a finely-crafted 30 against the Indian Embassy team.


“We even had the Indian High Commissioner play in this game,” Pasin said.


“The Indians were so keen they were at the ground two hours before the scheduled start.”


In the long tradition of pollies/press corps matches, all sides of politics are represented.


“We have got members from all major parties but we do not have a Green MP at present,” Pasin said.


“A few years back, we had the then Greens leader Dr Richard Di Natale in our team.


“He was a talented sportsman and also played in the strong Victorian Football Association.”


Pasin developed an appetite for cricket during his formative years in Mount Gambier.


The high point of his career to date was playing B Grade District with Adelaide University when a tertiary law and economics student in the capital city around 20 years ago.


As well as playing in the Mount Gambier Association, Pasin occasionally turns out for Rendelsham in the Millicent/Naracoorte Association.