Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall handed out caps to the Armidale U15s squad, including Northern Inland reps Liam Neeson and Nick Farrar. 

The batsman and leg spinner will have to lead the way for Armidale at home, with some stiff competition on their way to the New England for the Shield.

The Shield is becoming a major event on the calendar of many junior clubs, associations and regions, with some of the state’s best U15 players attending each year.

Lismore won the shield last year and will be returning to defend it, along with other guest sides Pennant Hills, West Cherrybrook, Northern Districts, Penrith and Ballina.

The carnival is also very important for local cricketers from within this region, with Tamworth and the Hunter Valley also putting forward very strong outfits year to year.

The Shield offers those boys one of the only opportunities of the season to play a higher standard of representative cricket against Sydney-based players and teams.

With eight sides attending, each team will play a one-day game every day from Monday to Wednesday, with the best sides from that playing the final at the Sportsground on Thursday, January 8.

The annual carnival is played in honour of Taylor, a huge advocate for junior cricket early last century and a Northern NSW representative form the 1930s to 1960s.

Taylor remains one of the cathedral city’s best representative players, with some amazing stats for a man who peaked in the 1930s.

The all-rounder hit over 30, 000 runs at an average better than 40, while also hitting 52 tons and one double ton.

Whilst very impressive with the bat, his figures with the ball are legendary.

1317 wickets at a measly average of just over 12, but perhaps most impressive are the five hat-tricks he took.

The Walter Taylor Shield began in 1993, with the man attending every year until his death in 2004.