How does that Crowded House song go again? "Everywhere you go, you always take the weather with you."
Otago must know the lyrics off by heart by now.
The luckless Volts have had their last four matches washed out and they looked almost as deflated trudging off Molyneux Park as the 700 or so hopefuls who filed through the gates hoping to see elite cricket at the venue for the first time in almost two years.
The Canterbury camp was not that impressed either.
The Wizards badly needed a win to stay in touch with the leaders.
The two points they picked up for the abandoned match was cold comfort with Central Districts beating Wellington by 29 runs and putting itself in the box position to join Auckland in the final.
Auckland secured a home venue for the final with a comprehensive eight-wicket win against Northern Districts in Mount Maunganui yesterday.
Northern Districts is in third place with 18 points, four points behind Central in second place.
The Knights will need to beat Canterbury tomorrow and hope Central trips up against Auckland in New Plymouth.
Yesterday's rain at Molyneux Park was a disappointment for almost all concerned.
A couple of blokes took the opportunity to use the covers as a makeshift water slide.
And the children made good use of the bouncy castles.
Other than that it was a rather glum affair.
It was three days short of two years since there had been top level cricket at Molyneux Park and the groundsman Wayne Walker was looking forward to the venue's return.
"It's a real shame," Walker said.
"A good crowd had come in and it was shaping as a good day."
The ground lost the right to host elite cricket following poor pitch reports at the end of the 2008/09 season.
Walker took over as head groundsman at the beginning of this year with a mandate to get the pitch up to standard.
"The pitch was looking good.
"All the tests we did on [it] suggested it was going to be a good strip," he said.
"There is a hell of a lot of work goes into getting the ground up to scratch for this so it's disappointing.
"Now we have to wait to until the ninth [January 9]."
Otago opens its one-day campaign against Wellington at the venue on January 9.
Otago coach Mike Hesson said his side was doing its best to keep its sense of humour despite a run of bad luck.
"The joke in the changing room is we could make some pretty good money travelling around the country breaking droughts," Hesson lamented.
If there was any venue in the country where you can normally rely on a sunny day it would be Molyneux Park.
"I've heard there has been one game in 30 years [washed out].
The odds looked good we were going to get a game but it wasn't to be."
It has been a nightmare campaign for Otago.
It lost its opening five games and the last four have been ruined by the weather.
Otago has one opportunity left to get a win and that is against Wellington in Queenstown tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Auckland underlined its dominance of the HRV Cup with its win over Northern Districts, NZPA reports.
With only one round before the final on January 2, Auckland restricted Northern to 135 for eight in its 20 overs.
Daryl Tuffey impressed with good line and length to finish with two for 21 off his four overs, with Andre Adams adding valuable back-up with two for 22.
ND then cantered home with nine balls to spare on the back of a breezy 77 from Lou Vincent.
The win puts its well clear at the top of the table on 28 points, with only one loss from nine games.
In Wellington, Central Districts captain Jamie How destroyed Wellington's hopes of cup honours with a superb 96 at the Basin Reserve yesterday.
Central Districts piled on 192 for eight from its 20 overs after losing the toss, and Wellington struggled to 163 for six to fall well short in reply.
English left-arm spinner Ian Blackwell was in particularly miserly form for CD, finishing with three for 19 off four overs.
