Young NSW batsman Usman Khawaja posted a classy century in the Blues' three wicket loss to the Tasmanian Tigers in Hobart on Saturday, putting down the first marker in his bid for selection on the Australian tour of the West Indies.
But higher honours were the furthest thing from his mind in the wake of a loss that all but terminated his side's Ryobi Cup tilt.
Having lost opening partner Moises Henriques from the first ball of the match, Khawaja was given an early life when dropped at slip but went on to bat with distinction before a calamitous collapse restricted the Blues to just 230 in perfect conditions at Blundstone Arena.
"It's never fun to get a hundred and lose," he said.
"It's a pretty tough feeling, especially when we were going pretty well with the bat at one stage, so it's very disappointing to be probably 30 runs short. It's a disappointing night."
On a slow pitch and in the face of some tight bowling from the Tigers' attack, Khawaja reached his century from 104 balls, becoming more fluent as his innings progressed.
"You had to get used to the pace, it looked better than it played," he said.
"It was a bit slow and made it hard to drive on the ground. It almost made aerial shots easier. I think in all it was about a 260 par wicket so were just a bit short there."
Khawaja lost his wicket at an inopportune time early in the batting powerplay, but for the Blues to crumble from 5-212 to be dismissed for 230 was as staggering as it was crushing to the visitors.
"We had so much batting behind me," he said.
"I was disappointed to get out (but) we had (Simon) Katich coming in, Ben Rohrer all these guys... but these things happen."
"We've got to learn from it next time, if we're in the same situation, not to take it too lightly. But you lose wickets in one dayers, it's just how it goes. You can't help when you lose wickets but you've got to make sure the next guy coming in does the job."
While their Ryobi Cup campaign lies in tatters, the Blues still have aspirations in the Bupa Sheffield Shield, starting with Monday's clash against the Tigers.
"We've got four Shield games left and another one dayer. There's a hell of a lot of cricket still left for us. For us as a team we've got a lot of new faces and a new captain, so also to try and gel as a team. Looking forward, hopefully we get a few wins up and get a very good atmosphere going."
And as for the potential of landing a spot in the West Indies touring party on the back of good form in the remaining Shield matches, Khawaja admitted he would relish the opportunity, but tempered his prospects by focussing on his immediate future for the Blues.
"There's always the opportunity but you can't look too far ahead," he said.
"We've got to win four games, hopefully. We've got four games coming up to give ourselves the chance to get in the Shield final and if we can do that I'll be a very happy man."