The Illawarra's hopes of winning a second-straight Creighton Cup were washed away on Sunday morning, with the final abandoned before a ball was bowled.
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The outcome came on a frustrating weekend for the region's representative cricketers, with both of Saturday's semi-finals also washed out.
It was initially hoped Sunday's final between Illawarra and South Coast would go ahead, however overnight rain and a heavy upcoming schedule for North Dalton Park meant the match was called off.
The third-place playoff was played on Sunday, with Highlands defeating Shoalhaven by 138 runs.
With the competition acting as the key selection tool for the upcoming Country Championships, Illawarra captain Graeme Batty said it was disappointing some of his players were denied an opportunity to press their claims for Greater Illawarra Zone selection.
"With a lot of new blokes around, the washouts mean those guys don't get a chance to put in a performance to be warranted for selection," Batty said. "It makes selection tough for Greater Illawarra Zone, guys will miss out without having the opportunity to perform.
"The exact same thing happened last year. It's tough, it's hard to know what to do when we're playing in different competitions. They probably should have had a backup ground for Dalton Park so we could have tried to get some cricket in."
The Greater Illawarra Zone team will be selected early this week, with the squad to head to Goulburn for the Country Championships in early November.
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Cameron Mee
Sports reporter at the Canberra Times
Sports reporter at the Canberra Times
