England must wait for their chance to go top of the world one-day international rankings after the Edgbaston rain frustrated their ambitions against Australia.
Birmingham suffered three washed-out days in the rain-ravaged third npower Test against West Indies last month, and on Wednesday bad weather prevented any play in the NatWest Series too.
Several times over, it seemed as if the third ODI might be about to get under way - albeit in a shortened format - only for rain to continually dash plans.
Finally, at 6.10pm umpires Aleem Dar and Rob Bailey announced an abandonment which leaves England 2-0 up with two to play.
They can no longer therefore complete the 5-0 series whitewash they need to depose Australia at number one in the International Cricket Council rankings, and become the first team to top the table in all three formats.
Warwickshire chief executive Colin Povey spelt out his frustration at another Edgbaston wash-out - although the midlands county will suffer no financial loss through being fully insured.
"You just want a good day out and the people we feel sorry for are the fans," he said. "We've worked hard and everyone has been busting a gut to get the match on.
"We'd geed ourselves up after the Test match and said 'never mind, we've got the one-dayer coming up soon with a full house' and then we get rained off again.
"It's frustrating and it's just sad to see people all ready to go and then we don't see any cricket."
With regard to any economic implications, Povey added: "In terms of finance, the wash-out does not really impact on us financially.
"Today we had pretty full cover on insurance so we had covered tickets and retail for this match because it is a big game for us, a big money-spinner.
"But at the end of the day it doesn't matter whether you've made your budget or not in a financial sense.
"You want to see England stuffing Australia and you want to see the stand rocking and people having a great time."
England will now attempt to clinch the series - weather permitting - on Saturday in the fourth encounter at Durham.
