South Australia will be without their best afield in last year's Sheffield Shield triumph when they attempt to go back-to-back in this summer's final, starting on Thursday.
Test quick and Worimi man Brendan Doggett, who led his adopted state to a first Shield in nearly three decades 12 months ago, has been ruled out of the contest with a pre-existing hamstring injury.
Doggett hasn't played since leaving the SCG outfield after attempting to save a boundary late in South Australia's match against NSW early last month.
A risk won't be taken on the Ashes debutant despite the title on the line, it was confirmed Friday, after a hiccup in his preparations last week.
South Australian coach Ryan Harris was quick to put a line through Doggett for the remainder of the summer, before the emergence of positive signs around his fitness leading into this week's decider.
"So he'll miss the rest of the season. I think the focus now for him will be on getting himself right for the Test matches in August to make sure he's in and around that," Harris said in February.
South Australia qualified for the final on bonus points before their draw against Victoria in the final round of the regular season.
The Vics, who'll host the fixture at CitiPower Centre in St Kilda, booked their spot with ease after a seven-win campaign well distanced from the race for second place between South Australia, Queensland and Tasmania.
Avoiding surgery, Doggett entered a race to prove himself fit for a chance of featuring but was ultimately ruled out of contention.
"He hasn't come up - we tried as best we can," Harris told reporters on Monday, AAP reports.
"He was going pretty well and he had a bit of a step back last week. Going into a final, you sometimes risk it, but this is probably too much, too fast."
Doggett ripped through Queensland's batting order in last summer's final, collecting figures of 11-140 - including a devastating 6-31 first innings, to steer South Australia to their first title since 1995-96 in front of a home crowd.
The 31-year-old backed it up with helping Australia to a 2-nil series lead over England after making his Test debut in Boorloo.
Scott Boland is expected to be named in Victoria's XI.
