Formerly the Burns Cup, the competition will see Illawarra take on Shoalhaven and South Coast play Highlands on Saturday, before the winners face off in Sunday's final at North Dalton Park.

With the Country Championships less than a month away, the Creighton Cup forms the key selection trial for the Greater Illawarra Zone team.

Illawarra captain Graeme Batty said this weekend was a big opportunity for a host of emerging players to showcase their talents.

"The Greater Illawarra team is far from being finalised," Batty said. "There's definitely spots up for grabs. If a player was to score a big hundred or take five wickets, it will go a long way to being selected.

"We've picked a young squad this year, so there's a lot of new players that we're trialing. We wanted to trial these players to see how they go and possibly get selected into Greater Illawarra Zone.

"We still want to win it, as we did last year, but it's a good competition to trial new players."

With Batty not too familiar with the Shoalhaven squad, he's hoping his batsmen will be able to lay the foundation for victory.

"The weather isn't looking good, so our plans will depend on the conditions. If we get on a dry wicket, we'll be looking to bat heavy and try bat teams out of the game."

The Illawarra will take on South Coast in Sunday's final if Saturday's matches are washed out.

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